Teen Titans Season 7
by dmiller5783
Summary: Starfire is faced with new issues now that Robin has become Nightwing and left her in charge of the Titans. However, her past is coming back to haunt her and it wants revenge. - Due to popular demand I was inspired to continue after I finished Season 6. I really hope it doesn't disappoint!
1. New Challenges

**A/N: We. Are. Back! Hey everyone! Been doing a lot of side stuff irl. I also make music so that's where most of my time has been going recently. Even made an electronic song for Raven because she's just that awesome. lol Anyways... I'm excited to tell you guys that this season is going to be one crazy roller coaster! Please, please, please drop reviews, favs, follows and let me know how I'm doing. So with that said lets kick-off season 7! I hope you enjoy!**

Sounds of a busy city fill the air. People smile and wave at each other on the street. Things have changed in Jump city. The people have never been more content or carefree. Life seemed like a dream with no end to the imagination one could muster.

Clouds drift through the blue sky like balls of cotton. The sun shined with a gentle warmth as if trying to overcome the passing winter. Everything seemed perfect and peaceful. However, life is not so simple. Things could not be this good without some kind of hardship to get it to this point...

The people looked towards the horizon of the city limits. They could slightly feel the earth tremble but were not concerned. These sudden tremors roared in the distance followed by a loud crash followed by another and another. They were coming from Titans Tower...

Terra cried out with agression as she lifted a rock twice her size above her head. Her eyes glowed yellow and her face was fierce with a sense of anger. With a second roar she sent her hands forward, hurling the massive boulder at her target.

"You can't beat me Beastboy!" She yelled as she followed her attack by lifting the earth underneath her into the air, creating a flying platform to stand on, "I'm stronger than you'll ever be!"

Beastboy took the shape of a wolf, darting around the boulder Terra had launched at him. It came crashing down to his right as he ran past it. He found himself in a difficult position. Terra had the upper hand on him and he was facing her alone.

He returned to his human form and began running towards her, "oh, come on!" He yelled back in frustration, "I thought we were past this already!"

He then jumped into the air morphing into a small bird and began flying circles around Terra.

Terra had a hard time keeping up with Beastboy's movements. He was fast and small, a target she couldn't hit so easily but she was waiting patiently for her moment to strike.

Beastboy flew above her and took a nose dive at Terra floating on her rocky platform. As he picked up speed he changed into a tiger with his teeth bare and claws drawn, ready to strike Terra down. With a terrifying growl, he came flying at Terra with tremendous speed.

Terra grew a dark smile. She saw her opportunity. Without Beastboy noticing she had pulled a second rock from the ground beneath her platform and was waiting to strike. When she saw the massive tiger raining down from the sky at her, she moved her platform out of his path and sent a glowing yellow fist upwards like an uppercut, propelling the second boulder beneath her straight up at Beastboy's green body with intense speed.

Beastboy's fierce expression turned to sheer horror as he saw the new boulder coming straight for him with no way to dodge it.

_Was she planning this the whole time? _He thought to himself as his utter defeat approached with each passing second. He closed his eyes and braced for impact.

The rock made solid contact with Beastboy and crumbled as it crushed his body, sending him flying in a cloud of dust. He hit the ground hard and returned to his normal form before sitting up dazed from the mighty blow Terra had landed.

Terra stood on her floating rock over Beastboy looking down at him through glowing yellow eyes and her hands lazily raised at shoulder level as if holding something. Two more boulders began levitating behind her ready to strike at any moment.

Beastboy finally regained focus and looked up at his foe. This was it. He had been beaten. He never thought it would end like this. He never thought after all they went through, that Terra would crush him so easily without a second thought...

"Ok! Ok!" Beastboy yelled waving his hands frantically at Terra, "you win!"

Terra smiled and the yellow glow from her eyes faded as the rocks behind her came crashing down with a loud bang. Her platform slowly drift down and landed softly next to Beastboy where she waited for the other Titans to join them.

Terra wore her normal clothes from before she met the Titans. A long-sleeve black t-shirt with tan-brown cargo shorts and tan hiking boots. Her eyes were covered by goggles to protect them from any dust and debris from her attacks. She pulled them away from her face letting them hang around her neck like a make-shift necklace as Cyborg made his way to where she stood.

"And the winner, for the 10th consecutive time, by butt-kicking, Beastboy-stomping, rock-solid knock-out... TERRA!!!!" Cyborg shout as if announcing a boxing fight. He lift Terra's right arm into the air declaring her the victor.

Starfire and Raven both stood over the control unit for the combat field where all the Titans were training. They both giggled as Cyborg laid the embarrassment on Beastboy a little thicker. After resetting the system and entering in the data for the sparring match, the two girls had noticed Terra had bested Beastboy in record time. Afterwards they flew over to join the others.

"Whoa," Raven said in her monotone voice, "I've never seen someone lose a fight so quickly before..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Beastboy said having heard enough of the taunting, "I let her win obviously... but next time I'm not going easy on you!"

"You've said that the last nine times you've faced Terra," Raven said adding insult to injury, "you haven't beaten her since she had her cast on."

Beastboy's face went red with an irritated expression on his face as if he was saying why'd you have to remind everyone?

"Splendid work Terra!" Starfire exclaimed, "you have progressed much faster than we could have ever imagined!" Starfire was the new leader of the Titans since Robin had moved on and became Nightwing. At first she didn't think she could handle it but now she seemed to enjoy it as if it came natural to her. Maybe that's what Dick had intended from the beginning. He saw the potential in her that she couldn't see herself.

"Thanks," Terra said shyly. She placed a hand on the back of her head and blushed back at the new leader, "I couldn't have done it without your help," she paused and looked around to the other Titans, "_all_ your help." She corrected.

"Congratulations Terra," Raven said with a smile, "you're officially in control."

Terra smiled back at Raven with a huge sense of pride in her eyes. She lunged forward and wrapped her arms around her best friend and squeezed tightly. Raven returned the hug with a soft chuckle.

"Alright y'all!" Cyborg said interrupting the moment, "thanks to Terra's speedy butt whoppin' we still got time for brunch!" Cyborg said with a massive grin, "I'm talkin' eggs, hashbrowns, fried chicken, and of course... WAFFLES!"

The rest of the Titans all laughed at his excitment for food. Brunch was a rare meal they didn't really get to enjoy that much so the rest of the team was also excited to indulge in Cyborg's cooking a little.

"Maybe next time," Terra said with a smile, "I still have some homework I gotta get finished before school tomorrow."

"Unacceptable! You must part take in the feast of brunch!" Starfire said hoping to convince her to stay a little longer.

"Yeah," Raven pitched in, "shouldn't take too long. I can take you home afterwards as well."

Terra thought about it for a moment and decided it couldn't hurt to stay for a quick bite before heading home. She nod her head and agreed to stay for brunch.

In the living area of Titans Tower, Cyborg had his chef's hat on and was powering through the preparation for brunch.

Beastboy and Raven sat on the couch. They were sitting extremely close as if they had only grown closer in the time that had passed after Slade's last attempt at conquering the city over them.

Raven held a book in her hands leaning into Beastboy's side as Beastboy's arm wrapped around her on top of the couch. His other arm was outstretched in front of him while he flipped through channels trying to find something interesting to watch only to find nothing could satisfy his appetite for entertainment.

Starfire and Terra sat at the dinner table waiting for Cyborgs brunch to be laid out in front of them. Besides the sound of channels changing on the tv and Cyborgs kitchen utensils clanging every second he moved, it was quiet and a little awkward. So Terra tried to start up a conversation with Starfire.

"So... uh... How's Dick? Have you heard from him lately?" She asked shyly.

"Oh! Um..." Starfire felt a little blindsided by this question. Now that Robin was Nightwing their relationship has gotten slightly difficult. They didn't spend as much time together, however it did allow them to spend more time together alone whenever they got the chance. "He is still quite the obsessed with work," she admit softly, "he is still tracking down Slade and rarely checks-in. But I have the most confidence he will succeed in apprehending him." Starfire smiled at Terra and hoped that was enough to end the conversation. Talking about her boyfriend was difficult now that she didn't know if he was ok the majority of the time.

"Man... Does he ever take a break?" Terra respond feeling bad for Starfire, "it's like he doesn't know how to relax."

"Well... He does what he must to ensure the safety of everyone." Starfire looked down at her hands on the table... Dick really did want to protect everyone but the one person he doesn't protect is himself. He will end up dead before he gave up on his mission. And that worried her. It rattled her very core.

Terra could see the concern on her face and felt she had only made small awkward tension grow bigger and immediately regret asking. She was just about to apologize before Cyborg spoke up with an excited tone...

"COME AND GET IT Y'ALL!" He exclaimed as he placed the multiple items on the table.

Plates of waffles, fried chicken, scrambled eggs, and a few other side dishes had a slight steam coming off of them indicating they were fresh and it filled the room with an enticing aroma.

"Sweet!" Beastboy yelled as he turned off the tv.

Raven closed her book and stood up with a stretch before she was taken by surprise as Beastboy wrapped his hands around her waist and playfully picked her up and gave her a tight hug.

Raven blushed and smiled at him as Beastboy put her down. She took his hand and they walked over to the table to join the others where they were all staring at them with sparkles in their eyes at how adorable they were together... except Cyborg. He couldn't help but feel like a third wheel to all these relationships.

"Sheesh... Get a room you two," He said with a low groan.

Everyone laughed and they all sat down to enjoy a delicious meal they didn't get to have very often.

After everyone had their fill of brunch, Terra decided it was time to get going. She and Raven walked to the center of the room and Raven raised a hand with dark energy and surrounded both of them in darkness and they vanished.

"Hey Cy," Beastboy said with a taunting tone, "bet I could beat you on the Game Station before Rae gets back." He said through a grin as he glared at his mechanical friend.

"Oh it is on!" Cyborg replied happy to take on the challenge, "just don't cry to hard to your girlfriend when I beat your butt." He said returning the grin.

In the blink of an eye they were on the couch and the game was powering up leaving Starfire alone at the table with her thoughts. Her small smile slowly turned to a frown. She wasn't always the best at hanging out with her friends... except Robin. Before he became Nightwing, she would spend most of her time with him. He never judged her. He never complained about her strange behavior or hobbies. Yet he would still do them with her. Just to be around her. Now she felt alone without him even though she still had her other friends.

She let out a small sigh and began walking back to her room. She missed him and it hurt dearly. She craved his warm touch surrounding her with a feeling of comfort. That warm comforting feeling you get when you return home after a long day. Instead she could only wait for him to check-in and hope for the best.

The door to her room slid open and rushed closed as she entered. She threw herself on her bed staring up at the ceiling with the back of her right hand on her forehead as if trying to calm the thoughts in her mind. She closed her eyes...

"Richard," she whispered to herself, "where are you?"


	2. Home

**A/N: Hey guys! glad to see some of you found your way to season 7! If you're new please read my season 6 so your not lost in sauce lol So as promised this is a Starfire season but there are a few other things I'd like to write about as well which will be pointed out in this chapter. If I get too off track please let me know so I can get back to the main reason I'm writing this. As always leave a fav/follow/review and let me know how I can improve! Hope you enjoy!**

The busy streets were slowlying dying down. Customers were no longer coming in waves and instead were coming and going just one at a time. As the customers numbers grew even thinner, one young man was still browsing a shop looking for something vibrant and beautiful that he could surprise someone special with. However, he didn't have much experience with these things... So he asked the shop's owner for advice.

Long shadows cast by a bright orange ray of sunlight, made the shop even more beautiful than the items on its shelves. The sun was beginning to set and the colorful shop was nearing its closing time.

"That'll be $22.67," the shop owner, in his mid sixties, tells the young man with messy jet black hair. His hair was just long enough to cover his emerald green eyes though it was maintained just enough to see his eyes through the mess. They were strong and trustworthy but behind those emerald eyes, it was easy to tell they had seen a number of horrific tragedies.

The young adult, nearly in his twenties, drew his wallet from the back pocket of his tightly fit blue-jeans and handed the clerk two bills totaling $25. A skin tight t-shirt covered his toned athletic build and it was easy to tell that years of hard work had gotten him to where he is today.

"I think she will be very pleased with these," the clerk said with a wide smile. He took the $25, put it in the register and was about to hand the change to the young man before he was stopped...

"Keep the change. You recommended them after-all," Richard replied holding up a hand as if halting the old man in his tracks.

"You're too kind young man! Someone's very lucky to have you!" The old man said back to him.

"Thanks," Dick said softly, "but I've been gone for so long I hope she's not mad at me."

The old man's smile soon turned to a worried girn, "how long has it been?"

Richard thought about that for a minute. Once he became Nightwing he spent a month in jump city trying to get a lead on Slade. He moved out of the Tower and started renting a small but nice apartment in the city. But once he had a lead on his most notorious nemesis, he took off after him with barely any notice.

"5 months," he finally replied, "I haven't done much to keep in touch either." His voice trailed off like he was almost disappointed in himself.

"Well... I think these flowers will help a bit," the man said softly gesturing to the floral arrangement Richard had just purchased, "it's none of my business... but were you deployed in the service?" He asked innocently not knowing who he was talking to.

Dick turned and started walking towards the exit, "yeah... Something like that..."

The floral shop door swung open ringing a small bell as he exit. As he approached his bike, he picked up his helmet with a tinted visor and the leather jacket off the seat and replaced them with the flowers he bought for Starfire. After putting the helmet on and tightening the chin strap, he put his jacket on but left it half unzipped, picked up the flowers and gently tucked them into the protection of the unzipped leather before zipping the other half and mounting his bike. With the turn of a key, the bike let a high pitch roar escape as it fired up.

Not too far away, a quiet neighborhood was also experiencing the long shadows cast by the bright orange sunlight as the sun continued to descend into the horizon. Raven and Terra were at Terra's house and they had spent a few hours just talking before they realized how late it had gotten. At that point, Terra's parents had invited Raven to stay for dinner. Raven quickly declined but the insistent pleas of Terra's parents convinced her to stay while also embarrassing Terra. They all sat at the dinner table with dishes of a homemade stir-fry placed in front of each of them. As they all began diving into the fresh meal, Carver tried to do his job as a father and embarrass his daughter...

"So what we're you young ladies talking about for so long in Terra's room?" Carver asked curiously as he took another bite of his meal. He wore sweats and a long sleeve shirt indicating he had a long day at work and just wanted to wear something comfortable.

"Carver!" Lindsey aggressively whispered at him, "you know better than to ask two young teenage girls about their private conversations." She snipped.

"I was just trying to make conversation," Carver tossed back at her defensively with a mouth full of food.

Terra buried her forehead in the palm of her left hand as her face turned bright red, "dad..." She said as if she couldn't believe she had to say it out loud, "don't ask questions you don't wanna hear the answers to." With that she took a surprisingly aggressive bite from the fork in her right hand, stuffing her mouth with a mixture of chicken, rice, and veggies.

Raven raised her left hand to her mouth as if trying to force her laughter to remain within her... but she was failing miserably as the giggles escaped her lips one after another.

Carver thought about that for a moment... A slight blush filled his cheeks as his mind filled with ideas as to what these young teens most likely talk about behind closed doors and this quickly changed his mind, "fair enough... So how's training going, sweety?" This was a question he _did _want to know the answer to.

Ever since her parents learned Terra's true identity they had been concerned with Terra's ability to cope with her powers. As her adopted parents... they had absolutely no idea how to help other than letting her train with the Titans.

"Its going fine." Terra sounded like she was too embarrassed to talk to anyone at the moment.

Raven saw this and tried to lighten the mood by speaking up for her, "it's actually going really well. Terra seems to have complete control over her power and even whipped Beastboy in a sparring match earlier. She beat him and set a record for the fastest match in Titans history," Raven knew the Titans had only been together for a few years but the way she said it sounded much more impressive and she hoped Carver and Lindsey wouldn't notice her exaggeration.

Terra looked at Raven with a small smile as Raven talked her up to her parents. Raven smiled back at her trying to reassure her that she was being honest and sincere. Terra was so happy that Raven acknowledged her and praised her accomplishments. It meant a lot seeing as how they both had so much in common.

"Well that's great!" Lindsey said with pride, "are you still keeping up with school?" She understood Terra's situation but she wouldn't let her hard work go to waste if she couldn't finish school.

"Yes, mom," Terra said still aggravated, "once were done eating I have to get some homework done, actually." After she finished that sentence she began eating faster as if trying to use that an excuse to dismiss herself from the table.

Raven couldn't help but pick up on a strange energy from Terra. Her emotions were unclear to her. Like something was bothering her even though she had so much to be grateful for. Raven looked from to Terra down at her food and took another bite and went deep into thought.

Once they had finished eating Terra walked Raven to the door where she gave her a hug and said goodbye.

"Terra," Raven said before she could shut the door, "is... everything alright? You seem... well... strange when you're around your parents."

Terra looked away from Raven with the door still cracked as she thought about that for a moment. Terra gripped the door tighter as her emotions caused her facial expression to tense up...

"They're not my _real _parents you know..." Terra said softly. Her voice was hurt but she was holding something back. Like she didn't know how to feel about the situation. She relaxed and looked back to Raven, "sorry... That was pretty mean, huh?" She chuckled nervously, "I mean they took me in and gave me a home when I didn't even know who I was. I'm grateful for them."

"So... what's bothering you then?" Raven replied trying to get her to continue.

Terra could see Raven already knew. The empath's ability to feel the emotional state of someone else was on another level. Hiding something from her was nearly impossible. The thing is... Terra didn't exactly know why she felt this way. It was something that had been bothering her for a while now but she always seemed to avoid it. Now that she had been asked that question she felt it was unavoidable but she just didn't want to deal with it.

Terra sighed and only managed to whisper, "it's complicated... I'm sorry, but I have homework I need to get done." With that she ended the conversation as she shut door.

"But-" Raven was interrupted by the click of the door closing in front of her. This was more strange than she imagined. But after everything Terra had been through she could only imagine how difficult it must be for her. Even so... Raven thought she and Terra had a closer connection than that. After all they just spent a few hours in her room talking about Beastboy and some boys Terra had a crush on at school. What could be so complicated that Raven wouldn't be able to understand?

Raven sighed and decided to let it go. She turned from the door and faced the night that had fallen on the quiet neighborhood. After taking a few steps into the driveway from the front porch, her eyes began to glow white as the floor beneath her darkened all around her. She began to slowly fall into the dark energy below her and before long she vanished completely.

Outside of Titans Tower, Richard stood with his leather jacket still zipped up and the flowers he bought still safely tucked away in his jacket. He looked up at the massive door bearing the letter "T" and took a deep breath. He walked up to the door and placed his hand on the scanner. The machine whirred for a bit longer than he remembered. He grew nervous as the door didn't open immediately. But he let out a sigh of relief when the scanner lit up with the color green and the doors rushed open. As he entered his old home he could hear two familiar voices coming from the living area...

"Come on, Cy!" Beastboy yelled from the left side of the couch, "that's cheating!" He was gripping his Game Station controller tightly as the game continued on.

"How is it cheating if it's _in _the game?!" Cyborg countered from the right side of the couch. He also gripped his controller tightly.

The two friends had been playing ever since Raven left with Terra and had been fighting back and forth ever since over small details in each match the played.

Richard grew a small smile and his eyes softened as he heard their voices and saw them on the couch from across the living area. He could see them playing the newest edition of their favorite game. It was a feeling of nostalgia and happiness. Something he hadn't felt in a long time.

_I see __they haven't changed much. _He thought to himself with a smirk. He took a few steps into the living area and looked towards the kitchen where he could see a pile of dishes from a meal the Titans had earlier.

He could see a distant memory of all them eating together after successful missions and laughing and joking with each other. A time when he wore a different uniform with a mask he never removed. A grin crossed his face once again as his eyes drank in the memory playing in front of him before it fade away and he returned his gaze to his best friends still bickering at each other with their eyes glued to the massive screen on the wall...

"I'm home." He whispered to himself.


	3. When A Hero Returns

**A/N: Welcome back! I know... so far its been pretty slow but just like the last season there will be PLENTY of action so hang in there! Again if I'm straying away from the lore or if the characters don't really sound like the real characters please leave a review so I can address that. I want to make this story just as good if not better than the last one and I rely on you guys to keep me in check. As always, please drop a fav/follow and give it some reviews so I can make this as best as it can be! Hope you enjoy!**

Dick stood behind the boys on the couch. He was far enough away so a whisper couldn't be heard over their yells but he kept a distance to just take in the moment of being home and seeing his family once again. His eyes had a gentle gaze while he continued to smile at the nostalgic feelings coursing through his mind.

After a moment, an eerie but familiar feeling dawned on him. He turned around to see a circle of darkness appear on the floor followed by Raven emerging from it as if an elevator was lifting her up from the nothingness. Her eyes were closed but as soon as she fully emerged, the dark circle at her feet began to shrink quickly before disappearing. She let out a sigh and opened her eyes.

The first thing she saw jolted her for a moment before she realized who it was standing before her.

"Richard?" She said loudly.

The boys immediately stopped arguing as their heads whipped around to the sound of Raven's voice.

"Duuuuude!" Beastboy yelled with excitement.

"Yo! Why didn't you say something, man?!" Cyborg tacked on to Beastboy's excitment.

"Sorry," Dick respond with a chuckle, "I guess I got lost in thought..."

"Well it's good to see you!" Beastboy said jumping over the couch and running towards one of his closest friends, "I mean... it feels like it's been ages since your last transmission," he said with a slight chuckle in return.

"Yeah... about that..." Richard began before he was interrupted.

"Don't even," Cyborg cut him off, "we all know you've been tracking down Slade and we can only imagine how hard it's been with you going after him alone."

"Not to mention how worried we are for you," Raven chimed in... She didn't seem as overjoyed as the others about his sudden return, "you could at least check in once a week to let us know you're ok."

Dick's small smile vanished and he lowered his head slightly. She was right. This was his family. It really is the least he could do to keep their minds at ease.

Beastboy saw his reaction and jumped to his defence, "hey c'mon Rae... This is Robi-... uh... _Nightwing_ we're talking about. If anyone can handle it it's him." Beastboy tried his best to ensure Dick that he had their full trust and confidence in him but he couldn't hide the fact that he was also worried about Richard from time to time.

"It's not _just_ me that's worried here," Raven spat back. She glared at Dick as if scolding him.

"I know," Richard respond. He unzipped his jacket and pulled the bouquet of flowers from its safely guarded position next to the warmth of his body, "I was hoping to make it up to her."

Raven continued to glare. She was still somewhat upset at Richard. Starfire hasn't been herself ever since he left. It was almost like when he went off to train with "_the true master_," only this time it was much worse. She feared for his life every moment of everyday and it was easy to tell she couldn't sleep at night.

"Dick..." Raven said with a bit of agression in her voice, "we need to talk."

Beastboy and Cyborg looked at each other. Raven has been a lot more in touch with her emotions since she learned to let them guide her and channel her powers with them but it also meant she wouldn't hold anything back anymore. No matter how harsh or mean it would be.

"Uh... Raven?" Beastboy said shyly, "maybe we could just... um..." He trailed off lifting a hand to the back of his head and averting his eyes from making eye-contact with her.

"Can't we just be glad he's back for minute?" Cyborg finished for him, "we've _all _been worried about him and haven't seen him in months."

"No," Raven said without hesitation. She turned and started to head to the hallway doors where they rushed open as she approached, "we needto talk. _NOW_." She wasn't kidding around. This was serious to her and she wanted to get it off her chest.

Richard looked back at his friends and flashed a smile before following Raven into the hallway. The doors shut behind him leaving Cyborg and Beastboy alone in the living area.

"Yo... What's with her?" Cyborg said looking to Raven's boyfriend for answers.

"Dude, if I knew... I'd tell ya," Beastboy replied as he walked back to the couch to pick up his controller. As much as she vented to him and talked to him, he still couldn't understand her on the level he wanted to. Raven's life and emotions are far more complex than he imagined. None-the-less he still loved her dearly.

Richard walked a few steps behind Raven. He felt like a child waiting to be yelled at by his mother. He hasn't felt this way before. Not in a very long time at least. He wondered why Raven had changed so much compared to the others. However, he couldn't deny this was a good thing in Raven's case.

Raven stopped in the hallway without warning. Richard nearly walked right into her with his head down but stopped just in time to look up and wait for her to speak.

After a long moment of silence in the dimly lit hallway, Raven spoke up without turning around to face him...

"How could you do that to her?" She said with an amount of angst, "no warning? No goodbye? You just take off after Slade and let us know after you already left?"

Richard felt his guilt amplify. His obsession with Slade still had its grip on his mind. There was no excuse he could make that could possibly make up for his actions.

He lowered his head and his eyes carried a heavy sadness, "I'm sorry." He said softly. It sounded as though the weight of the world sat on his chest. His voice was heavy with regret.

Raven turned to face him. She could feel the guilt coming off of him and her anger towards him calmed down a bit. She could see this was hard on him but it was still nothing compared to the pain Starfire was feeling... Not to mention... The pain _she _was feeling.

"Are we really not that important to you?" Raven said a little less aggressively, "are we really not worth a goodbye?" She sounded as if the she expressing the pain for both herself and Starfire through her words.

Dick quickly looked up at Raven, "Of course not!" He said instantly with earnest but before he could continue Raven interrupted him.

"Then why?!" She raised her voice towards him, "why did you do that to us?" Her voice softened and she fought back tears, "after everything we've been through, you just let us worry about you. We didn't know if you were hurt or worse..." Her next thought pained even more and she raised her voice again, "you could have died and we would have no idea!"

Richard couldn't believe what he was hearing. The flowers in his hands were nothing but a small token to him now. A gesture that meant nothing compared to the simple action of a phone call. Just a small message to keep in touch and reassure his friends about his safety. It dawned on him just how much he meant to them. He was the one person they looked up to for just about everything. The glue that held this strange family together. The most "normal" person among them that showed no judgments except for the content of their character. He was everything this odd group of friends could ever hope for in this unforgiving world.

"I... I don't know what to say," Richard admit as he looked to the side. If he was being honest with himself... There was nothing he _could _say.

"Don't _ever_ do that again," Raven lowered her head as her voice trembled, "Starfire's not the _only_ one who can't live without you..."

Raven might not love Richard like she loves Beastboy but back when he was Robin, he saved her when she was in her most desperate time. She lost her powers, lost her mind, and lost nearly everything else about herself but Robin never gave up on her. He went into the darkest depths of horror to find her and bring her back to the light. He meant more to her than he could ever imagine and Richard felt so stupid for not realizing that sooner.

He reached forward and tried to wrap his arms around Raven but she slapped his hands away as she grit her teeth. Dick staggered back as this took him by surprise.

"Save it," she said under her breath, "there's someone else who needs _that_ from you."

Raven turned and continued walking down the hallway. She was leading him somewhere very familiar. He knew that she was taking him to Starfire. Raven felt like she had delayed their reunion enough as it is and began walking with a purpose.

Richard looked up and took a few long steps to catch up to her before maintaining a pace to keep up with the empath. When they arrived at Starfire's room Raven stopped him outside.

"Wait here and listen," she said quietly, "listen to the pain in her voice. She's been like this ever since you left."

Raven knocked softly on Starfire's door and waited for a response. Nothing but silence returned to them. Raven wasn't the least bit surprised when no answer came so she raised her voice to get Starfire's attention.

"Star? It's Raven. Can I come in?" Raven said with her monotone voice.

A moment of silence followed. After hearing some rustling in her room they recieved a reply.

"Um... yes. You may enter," Her voice was flat and lifeless. She only seemed to speak this way around Raven knowing that putting on a fake smile and cheerful tone around her was a losing battle and ultimately pointless.

Richard's eyes went wide. He already knew. Just from the sound of her voice he knew she was suffering emotionally and it poisoned his heart to know he caused it

The door slid open to reveal only Raven as Dick stood around the corner of the doorway out of sight. The room was nearly pitch black except for the starlight that cast a dim glow through the windows of her room. Raven walked in to see Starfire sitting up on her bed. Her green eyes looked like they had been crying or at least fighting back tears for quite some time now even though she refused to admit it.

"How are you feeling today?" Raven asked as the door shut behind her. She sat next to Starfire on her bed and waited for a response. Richard stood on the other side of the door and listened closely as Raven had instructed him to do so.

"I am... still troubled," Starfire admit, "I know he is resilient and strong but he still has yet to contact me. It has never been this long of time since I have heard from him and I am beginning to fear the worst." She lowered her head as her hands folded in her lap. Her voice sounded like she was dying inside. A voice Richard had never heard from the Tamaranian. It chilled him to the bone.

"Don't worry," Raven respond, "he's fine. But you can't keep locking yourself in your room. Take it from me... It's not the best way to handle your emotions." Raven spoke from experience. She used to do this every day, even when she was in a good mood. She thought it was best, as if a way to protect her friends from herself.

Starfire looked up at Raven with a tiny smile, "I am grateful for your concern, but truly I am ok. You mustn't worry." Even though Starfire knew it was pointless to lie about her emotions to Raven she couldn't help but try, mostly from habit.

Raven saw straight through her facade and made it known that she wasn't fooled, "I can't imagine how hard it is for you. If Beastboy Ran off with the Doom Patrol with no notice I'd be devastated... but he hasn't. So there's no way I can understand your pain."

"It does get difficult when I see Beastboy do the things he does with you," Starfire admit looking down at her hands, "if I am to be honest, it makes me quite jealous... and I only wish Richard were here so I too may feel the love you feel."

Raven's eyes went wide. She hadn't thought of that. How many days did Starfire wallow in her own emotions as Raven kissed Beastboy? As Beastboy wrapped his arms around Raven and embraced her? This could only make it worse for Starfire as she waited for her own love to come back to her. How could Raven not have noticed this sooner?

"I'm so sorry," Raven said feeling a bit of guilt, "I... didn't realize-"

"Oh no!" Starfire said trying to reassure her friend, "do not be, the sorry. There are times when I see the two of you and it brings me joy and hope." Starfire sounded as if she were being honest and sincere, "it makes me feel wonderous that you two have each other." Starfire's small smile was no longer fake. She actually was happy for them. But her smile didn't last as she then reminded herself of what she was missing.

Raven saw this and decided Richard has heard everything she wanted him to hear, "well... I think you deserve what me and Beastboy have more than anyone." With that, she waved her hand with dark energy and the door opened revealing Dick on the other side.

Starfire's eyes went wide in disbelief. Dick was holding the flowers in front of him at chest level with a passionate smile on his face. His emerald green eyes expressed overjoyed happiness but deep down he felt uneasy and guilty for his absence.

Starfire's eyes began to water and tears began to flow down her cheeks with a barely audible whisper escaping her lips...

"Richard?"


	4. A Tense Reunion

**A/N: Hey everyone! So... please tell me if this chapter is too mature. I wanted to write the growth of the characters transitioning to adults. Every other series and comic book series has its mature moments EXCEPT for the Teen Titans obviously. But now that they are growing up I want to implement some real world difficulties that come with maturity. So I'm kinda hesitant to post this chapter. Please please let me know if it's too much so I can edit or just start over with this chapter. As always, leave a fav, follow or review if you like what you read! Hope you enjoy!**

The room remained silent like the moment you wake from a dream. It feels like you are still dreaming but you hold your breath observing your surroundings trying to confirm you are, in fact, awake. This was written all over Starfire's face. She was struggling to believe what she was seeing... Fearing that any moment, she would wake and the person that stood before her would vanish like a ghost.

"Is it really you?" Starfire asked as she stood up off her bed. She took a few steps towards Dick and reached her left hand up to his face. When her hand landed on his cheek she knew this was real. His skin was smooth and soft as if he had shaved just before he arrived.

Dick leaned into her hand trying to tell her he really was here and he missed her touch. He closed his eyes and focused his attention on the sensitivity of his cheek being touched by a woman's hand. He missed her touch more than anything. He longed for it like a puppy starved for attention hoping the hand caressing him would never leave. He drank in every second he could of her fingers against his skin before they pulled away forcing his eyes open.

Starfire's hand was raised sharply behind her before it came rushing forward with outstretched fingers and an open palm. It came swinging around her, swiftly landing on the soft cheek she was just caressing in an attempt to shatter the moment and bring reality down on Dick like a lightning bolt. The sound of her hand landing on his face echoed through her room. It was loud enough to make even Raven jump. She was not expecting that. Not from Starfire.

Richard flinched hard after recieving the strike from the beautiful red-headed tamaranian and he dropped the flowers in his hand from pure shock. They landed on the floor next to his feet. He winced in pain as he redirect his eyes to meet her's but when he was expecting to see joyful eyes filled with excitement to see him, he was met with eyes filled with sorrow and pain as tears streamed down the face that held them.

Richard didn't even notice the bright red sting of pain in his cheek anymore. He didn't even try to ease the burning sensation in the right side of his face. He just stared back at Starfire quiet and unsure of what to say or do.

"You... You dare not worry me as such again!" Starfire raised her voice. Every time she was emotional her english would sound a little more unusual than normal... But her emotions were boiling over at this point, "YOU SHALL TELL ME OF WHERE YOU HAVE BEEN!!! AND WHY YOU DID NOT COMMUNICATE WITH ME!!!" She yelled aggressively over her tears trying to calm one emotion by making another more intense. She was well past asking questions. Now she demanded answers.

Dick knew there was nothing he could say that would make this situation any better. So he said the one thing that he knew wouldn't change anything for the better or worse... Or so he thought...

"I'm sorry Star," he said softly, "I have no excuse. I should have called you every chance I got."

"BUT YOU DID NOT!" Starfire screamed back, "how long must I wait to know you are unharmed?! How long am I to wonder if you shall ever return?!" Her voice began to crack as her aggression released and her sadness began to take over, "you know not of how much I missed you..." She folded her arms in front of her chest looking away in an attempt to hide her vulnerable state. It was as if she trying to comfort herself but before long she closed her eyes and began sobbing.

Dick stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around her. Her head fell into his chest as she gripped his tightly fitting shirt with clenched fists. She gripped so tightly she feared if she loosened her clenched fists, even slightly, he would disappear again. She was so happy he was home but the pain she had to endure for this moment made it much harder to enjoy his presence.

"I missed you more than anything Star," Richard said as he held her closer, "I'm so sorry I put you through all this."

Starfire loosened her grip and wrapped her arms around Dick's neck and pulled him into her body. She buried her eyes into the shoulder of his neck and continued to sob tears from a combination of overwhelming emotions. Regardless of her emotions she was glad to have him back.

Raven observed from where she sat on Starfires bed. This did not go the way she imagined. She knew Starfire was hurt but this kind of reaction she has never seen from her before. After all the stress Starfire has been dealing with, Raven could only understand her reaction was a bit much but absolutely necessary.

Starfire had to deal with the pain of Dick's sudden absence while leading the Titans. She had to do everything she could to keep it together whenever the team had a mission to go on. Even when they were just hanging out... she struggled to keep it together. But she did. She maintained her strength. Her charisma. She lead the Titans on successful missions despite her pain. Someone who can do that is a truly gifted leader. She was definitely the best choice for the job.

Raven got up off the bed and began walking towards the door. She stopped in the doorway and turned back to them before leaving, "I think you guys some time to talk alone..." She said uncomfortably. Dick and Starfire turned to look at Raven before she left, "it's good to have you back, Dick." Raven lifted a small smile on her face. She turned and the door slid shut behind her.

"I wish to apologize," Starfire said full of remorse, "I should not have let my anger harm you." Starfire felt a little guilty that she did that to Richard in front of Raven. But his sudden presence made her completely forget that she was even in the room. Only when Rsven spoke before leaving did it dawn on her that she and Dick were not the only ones in the room.

"Don't," Richard said back quickly, "I deserved it."

His usual spark of confidence had slightly faded for some reason. Starfire picked up on this instantly. She began to think something must have happened while he was tracking down Slade She wanted to about it but figured another time would be better.

"But I want to make it up to you," Dick continued. He reached down and picked up the flowers off the floor and held them out to the beautiful woman they were intended for, "I know these aren't enough to show you how sorry I am... So I was thinking I could treat you to something special. Just the two of us."

Starfire's eyes lit up as she took the gorgeous bouquet of flowers from him. They had an amazing array of colors that blended well with each other. Rose's of white, pink, and red all arranged with a kind of sporadic precision that really made them stand out as if performing a dance of color. The made her blush from sheer beauty as his words sank in...

"You wish to take me on, the date?" Starfire said with glee. She had been on a few dates with him before he left, but they were short lived and some of them were even cut short as trouble would interrupt them and force them on a mission.

"No interruptions. No communicators. Just the two of us." He really wanted to make sure their time together was special and nothing could ruin it.

"Richard," Starfire began, "as wonderous as that sounds... we can not leave our friends to defend the city alone."

Dick chuckled, "I knew I made the right choice leaving you in charge," he said with a smile, "alright, if they need us they can call but let's try to have a night to ourselves. It's the least I can do to make it up to you."

Starfire smiled back as she hid her blush behind the flowers she held, "very well. If you insist I shall not argue." She has wanted a night alone with him for a very long time now. The fact he was willing to make it special for her was getting her more and more excited that it could be a reality. A dream finally come true.

Dick leaned into Starfire pushing the flowers away from her face revealing her blush. He lifted a hand to her chin and raised her lips to his and pressed them tightly against hers.

Starfire swooned and her knees felt weak. It was a sensation that she had not experienced in so long that it nearly took her by surprise. They remained attached to each other for a long moment savoring the every second of each others soft lips.

Richard finally pulled away after getting his fill of his addiction to the beautiful woman he loved and looked into her eyes, "want to go join the others? I'd feel bad if i didn't spend at least a little time with them too..."

Starfire wrapped a hand around his neck and pulled him in close where their lips were almost touching once more, "not yet..." she whispered softly. She had not yet quenched her thirst for him just yet and kissed him passionately once more for a moment longer than the last until she also had her fill of the man she was addicted to.

Raven had began making her way back to the living area. When she finally arrived the boys were sitting on the couch playing yet another game... Only now... They were silent. Where as before they had been going back and forth in a heated virtual battle for the winner, now they seemed like they were barely trying to beat each other and just using the game to distract themselves. The room was quiet except for the sound of the game before their attention was redirected from the screen towards the sound of sliding doors behind them. They both stared at Raven waiting for her to say something. She grew uncomfortable as they stared at her.

"What?" She said in her annoyed monotone voice.

"So... what did you say to him?" Cyborg respond quickly.

"Yeah..." Beastboy add also curious as too what she had to _talk _to him about, "you looked like you were about to banish him to another dimension..."

Raven realized they didn't understand why she was so adamant about having a one on one talk with him about Dick's disregard for their feelings on the matter. She grew irritated that boys could get over things like this almost instantly like nothing happened. She felt like she would never understand how their minds worked.

She sighed and figured they wouldn't understand her either, so she played it off with a basic response, "I just... needed to clear a few things up."

Cyborg and Beastboy looked at each other and shrugged. They knew this meant to leave it alone and not to press her for a more clear answer.

"So was Starfire excited to see him?" Cyborg asked a follow up question. He figured that's where Dick was now that he hadn't returned with Raven.

"Star?" Beastboy chuckled, "she probably threw herself at him at first sight!" He giggled again.

"All that time away from each other I wouldn't be surprised if there was a '_DO NOT DISTURB' _sign on her door." Cyborg pitched in, laughing with Beastboy as he hinted at what the two young adults might be doing in the privacy of their room.

Raven grew more irritated at the boys. They truly were just that... _Boys. _She blushed at the thought for a moment and looked away to hide her embarrassment. She didn't know the full extent of her best friend's relationship but she wouldn't be surprised if they had gone further than she and Beastboy had. They weren't young teens anymore. They were young adults with urges and desires. She hadn't yet even considered anything more with her own boyfriend even though they had been together for a while now. She was just too nervous to even think about anything like that due to her inexperience with her own emotions. Not to mention she didn't know what could happen if her powers unlocked some kind of hidden emotion she hadn't discovered yet. She began to fill herself with a sense of awkward tension and she felt the need to get it back to normal.

"I highly doubt that," she said with distaste. After seeing Starfire's reaction herself, she truly did doubt that they could be doing anything like that but still the thought lingered in her mind making her uncomfortable.

"Ah c'mon... We're just kidding Rae," Beastboy said with a smile, "we don't actually think that-" Beastboy's smile disappeared as he was interrupted.

"Well they aren't!" Raven said sharply. She was over this conversation and wanted it to end.

"Uh... Ok?" Cyborg said with an eyebrow raised. They weren't expecting that kind of reaction from her. They started to worry something happened...

Raven's awkward tension vanished but she could feel the room fill with concern. Even though Raven felt better with the room feeling like this, she still didn't want the tension in the room at all.

"Can we just drop it please?" Raven asked calming herself down. She had a hint of desperation behind her monotone.

The boys looked at each other and decided to let it go and turned back to their game. The room went back to silence except for the sound of the game. Raven sighed and made her way to the dinner table, happy that was over with. She picked up her book but found it hard to concentrate on what she was reading.

_Why do they have to be so immature? _She thought to herself.

But the thought that annoyed her more was the thought that maybe _she _was the only one not maturing like the others. Was she supposed to find humor in it like the boys? Was she supposed to be considering the possibility of intimacy on another level? She truly did not know the answers to these questions and it worried her.

The doors to the living area slid open once more as Richard and Starfire entered the room. The game paused and the room went silent. Everyone turned their gaze to the couple and room filled with a sense of excitement.

"Friends!" Starfire began, "I wish to invite you all to feast in celebration of Richard's return!" Her smile was wider than ever and her excitement for his return seemed to finally be what everyone was expecting.

"Alright!" Cyborg said with excitment, "You had me at feast!"

"I'll get started on the tofu!" Beastboy said sharing Cyborg's excitment.

A huge sigh of relief left Raven when she saw them. Not just because they brought a sense of excitement and happiness to the room... but just the fact they had only been alone for a short time brought her comfort in the more likely possibility that they hadn't done anything.

"It's good to be back," Richard said happily, "I missed you guys."


	5. We've All Been There

**A/N: Welcome back! Just like last chapter let me know if this one is a bit too mature. Again I wanna portray the growth into adults with this season. But were still gonna get plenty of action so stay tuned! So far I have tons of ideas for where this can go but I'm always open to your ideas as well. I think half you guys guessed my Season 6 story after the first 10 chapters so a lot of your ideas helped keep it fresh and not too predictable. The more ideas the better! As always drop a fav or follow if you enjoy what you're reading and please leave a review to let me know how I can improve! Thanks for reading!**

The next day Starfire was rushing around her room. Richard had promised her a very special night and she couldn't help but feel a little anxious. Her bedroom was a mess with her bed, floor, and nightstands covered in all kinds of clothing from tight fitting stylish pants to dresses for the most formal of occasions. She didn't know exactly what he had in mind for their date. All she knew is she wanted to look better than she had ever looked in her entire life. She burrowed through every piece of clothing she had looking for the "_perfect_" thing to wear.

"Perhaps this might..." She hesitated as she held out the long dark pink dress with a pattern of shiny decorations in the shape of roses down the sides, "...absolutely not. This will not do." With that she threw it over her shoulder where it landed on top of a small pile of clothes at the foot of her bed.

Just above that pile sitting on the foot of her bed were two more girls. Starfire had even called on Raven and Terra for a second opinion on these things. The two sat in a position of discomfort with a look of concern and irritation on their faces. They looked like they had been sitting there for half a lifetime. As Starfire continued to rip through her closet Terra leaned over towards Raven...

"She's been at this for _hours._.." Terra whispered through her clenched, annoyed lips, "I don't know how much longer I can take this..."

Raven looked back at Terra from the corner of her eye. She felt the exact same way... but this was Starfire. She was always there for them. The least they could do is return the kindness by being there for her no matter how small the matter might be. Though she couldn't deny, at this rate Starfire might miss her date entirely.

Raven sighed and spoke up, "Starfire!" she said aggressively to get her attention.

Starfire stopped in her tracks and turned to face the other girls.

"You need, to calm, down." She spoke slowly emphasizing her words, "Dick isn't going to care what you are wearing he's only going to care that you are there."

"Yeah... You're over-thinking this _way _too much." Terra add.

"But what if he is not the, impressed with my appearance? What if he resents me for not having put forth the effort for him?" Starfire said with nervousness in her voice.

"Are you kidding?" Terra said with a grin, "look at you!" She gestured to her entire body, "you have a _perfect_ figure, your eyes are _literally_ emeralds, your smile could stop an _apocalypse_, and you are the most badass chick on this planet!"

Terra almost sounded jealous as she praised her friend. But she was right. Raven might be more powerful, but to fill the roll Starfire was in right now, even she couldn't handle it. She truly is one of a kind.

Starfire blushed as she avert her eyes from them towards the ground covered in clothes in front of her.

"Maybe, we can go shopping," Raven purposed. She almost sounded desperate just to get out of Starfire's room, "I bet we could find something you like at the mall."

"Yeah!" Terra said immediately jumping on the bandwagon. She sounded more desperate than Raven, "this new store just opened that I really want to check out too!" She had stars in her eyes like she already knew there was something there she was going to buy.

Raven glared at Terra with an eye brow raised. Her expression screamed: "_seriously? We're here for Starfire" _and she laid it on thick.

Terra picked up on the glare from Raven's half dead eyes and felt a chill run through her spine.

"After we find something for Star of course..." She said with a nervous smile as she raised her right hand to the back of her head.

Raven got an eerily familiar feeling from that reaction and she thought of Beastboy for a moment and how that was almost exactly how he would have respond.

_You two really were perfect for each other weren't you? _Raven thought to herself. She couldn't help but think if it weren't for Slade they might have ended up together and she would have never fallen for him. But she shook off the thought and looked back to her friend who was in a small crisis.

Starfire's mood changed though. She seemed to have a bit more confidence in herself and she smiled at her friends.

"I thank you for your kind words," she said softly, "perhaps the mall may be a good idea."

She smiled again and the three girls giggled amongst themselves before heading off to Jump City's most popular mall.

The sun beat down from its highest point in the sky. The day was perfect for the beach or summer activities and this put the girls in a much better mood as they entered the enormous building made mostly of glass. If it weren't for all the stores inside the building, it could easily be mistaken for a massive greenhouse.

They went from store to store looking through all the womens clothing trying on all kinds of dresses and outfits they liked and they had an amazing time with each other. Yet nothing seemed to satisfy Starfire's taste for the outfit she was looking for. Raven and Terra were starting to wonder what it was that Starfire was even looking for.

"So... what exactly are you _going _for?" Terra asked bluntly.

Starfire thought about that for a long moment but her face just remained puzzled before she finally respond, "I do not understand..."

"What is it you want Dick to think when he sees you?" Raven said trying to make it clear.

"Oh! Well I..." Starfire thought even harder on the question and her face started turning red, "I um... Wish for him... to..." She trailed off unsure what to say next.

The others saw her face growing red and they instantly knew what it was she wanted. Or at least... Terra did.

"I think I know..." Terra said with a devilish grin, "you want him to drool at the very sight of you but still appear as someone respectable, huh?"

Starfire's eyes went wide as she blushed even harder... that is exactly how she felt but she couldn't figure out how to put it into words.

"Precisely! I want him to... Well... I wish for us to..." Starfire felt embarrassed as she tried to voice her feelings.

"We get it!" Terra exclaimed, "I think we've all felt that way before, right Rae?" She asked Raven hoping for backup but when she looked at Raven her face was hidden under her hood as she lifted it over her face, "Raven?" Terra asked with some concern this time.

Raven hesitated for a moment before finally speaking up, "I... can't say I've had that feeling... yet." She felt embarrassed as if she should have felt that a long time ago. It only concerned her more that maybe she _was _maturing at slower rate than the others.

"You must have had the desirable temptations for Beastboy..." Starfire chimed in trying to get a clearer idea of how she felt.

"I'm sure she does," Terra said immediately, "whenever we talk sometimes he's all she talks about."

"Of course I desire him," Raven said defending herself from under the hood of her cloak, "but I've never felt the desire... uh... you know... _physically._" She said emphasizing her meaning but it only further embarrassed her.

Terra and Starfire looked at each other confused. Raven and Beastboy had been together for six months now. Have they really done nothing more with their relationship in all that time? It almost seemed incomprehensible in the modern age they were living in... Yet here they were just confused as she was.

"Wow... I had no idea you felt that way..." Terra said almost ashamed of assuming that about her friend, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

"Am I _supposed _to have those feelings?" Raven interrupted, "is there something wrong with me?"

Raven's monotone had a clear sound of concern within it. She feared for her relationship. What if this meant she didn't love him they way she was supposed to? What if it meant their relationship was doomed? It rattled her to her very core because she knew for a fact she loved him with all her heart. And with that being the case... why hasn't she experienced what the others have? It terrified her.

"There's nothing wrong with you," Terra said quickly, "some people's feelings just take longer to develope than others. When the time is right I'm sure you will notice it."

Starfire nod her head in agreement. She felt bad for Raven but she couldn't believe that Raven had never felt the way she had. Beastboy and Raven are so close now and their interaction is pretty physical so she always assumed Raven had felt the same way about Beastboy as she did about Richard. After thinking for a second Starfire gasped as she got an idea that might help her shy friend out.

"I have a marvelous idea!" She exclaimed, "come with me!"

The girls followed their Tamaranian friend until they arrived at the store she was intending for. Terra and Starfire were both excited to go in and try clothes on but Raven felt more nervous than she had ever felt before. Her face twitched with an uncomfortable stare as she looked up at the store that stood in front of her with a giant logo that read _Pritoria's Secrets_ with the picture a flawless beautiful model on the glass window in her stylish underwear.

The female underwear model, Pritoria, was famous for her top selling underwear brand and her wildly amazing success in love affairs because of it.

"Not a chance..." Raven said in her agitated monotone voice as she turned to leave but the two excited girls next to her grabbed her by the cloak and dragged her inside, lifting her off her feet as if she were a flag waving in the wind.

Terra and Starfire put Raven infront of a mirror next to the dressing rooms with her hood off and started picking out bras and panties they thought looked cute or sexy and started putting them over Raven's clothes at her breasts and waist to get an idea of what she might look like.

"I've never... Felt so... UNCOMFORTABLE." Raven expressed her feelings verbally as a bead of sweat rolled down her cheek. She looked like steam could be seen radiating off of her. Her face was bright red with an irritated look in her eyes like she might end the world again just so wouldn't have to deal with this.

"Oh calm down," Terra said playfully, "were trying to help you." She giggled as she picked out more underwear to test out.

"How could this possibly help me in _any_ way?" Raven said full of skepticism.

"I imagine myself wearing such things in front of Richard one day. When I picture this, I get such a feeling that fills me with excitment!" Starfire said with a flushed smile, "perhaps you will feel the same if you picture yourself in front of Beastboy." She smiled and held up another bra to Ravens bosom and shrieked with glee. "You must try this one!" She begged her friend.

"Yeah..." Raven said sarcastically taking the pink bra with a floral design from Starfire. It was definitely not her style and more for Starfire than it was for her, "I don't think so."

"I think I found something you might like," Terra said with a confident and teasing voice.

She handed Raven a dark velvet bra with a spiral design starting from the edge and twisting to the center of each cup kind of like her dark energy wrapping around an enemy. The panties were the same dark velvet as the bra but made of silk smoother than anything she had ever touched before. Raven had to admit... Terra knew her well and she didn't disappoint in finding something she might enjoy. Regardless Raven still didn't want to participate in this experiment.

"I'm not trying this on," Raven continued to protest, "We're _supposed_ to be finding Starfire something for her date tonight..."

"My friend is more important than what I must find to wear tonight," Starfire retaliated as if she had rehearsed it in the mirror.

Raven looked to Terra. Terra smiled and crossed her arms in front of her chest agreeing with Starfire. They werent going to let this go.

Raven sighed. She then figured the quicker she does this the faster it's over with. She opened the door to a dressing room, entered, and set the underwear down on the bench provided. A mirror the size of the wall in front of her provided a perfect reflection of her as the light above her shined bright to reveal every detail possible in the small space. Raven closed her eyes and the ruby button that held her cloak over her shoulders unbutton itself with dark energy and levitate to a coat hanger on the door behind her. She undressed herself and put slipped the straps of the bra over her shoulders before connecting the back adjusting cups to fit her rounded chest. After she put on the panties she looked down at her body as if nothing had changed but when she looked up at the mirror her reflection was another story. She felt... Strange. Seeing herself wearing these things gave her an overwhelming feeling of confidence that her beauty truly could be physically desirable. Maybe even _t__empting_. And just as Starfire pictured herself in front of Richard, Raven began picturing herself in front of Beastboy like this. Her heart began to pound... before long it began racing and her cheeks filled with a flush of red. Her eyes widened and as her heart continued to pound furiously until a small power of dark energy escaped her and the light above her shattered showering the small dressing room in darkness.

The girls were eagerly awaiting outside to hear what Raven might say about what she was wearing... until they saw the light vanish from the crack of the door with the sound of a lightbulb bursting into pieces. As the lightbulb shattered so did the two girls hope's for helping their friend. They could only assume that they angered Raven and made her so uncomfortable to the point she couldn't take it anymore. They had forgotten about how important Raven's emotions are to her powers. She had been doing so well with her emotions lately that they almost forgotten it was ever an issue to begin with... But now reality dawned on them once again.

Raven began breathing heavily in the darkness of the dressing room. She leaned forward on the bench in front of her as she placed her hand over her heart trying to manually calm herself. Behind her a light from the store shined under the crack of the door giving a small amount of visibility to the room.

"Raven?" Terra said knocking on the door, "are you ok?"

"We heard the light had been destroyed," Starfire add holding her hands to her chest, "might you need assistance?"

Raven couldn't focus on their voices after what she just felt... As her heart rate began to slow down so did her breathing. She regained her composer and took a deep breath before she took off the underwear and dressed herself with her usual clothes and cloak in the concealment of the darkness.

She unlocked the door and stepped out into the store where Starfire and Terra both looked like they were begging for forgiveness from her.

"We're so sorry!" Terra began, "we didn't know it would upset you this much!"

"We beg your forgiveness," Starfire said lowing her head with her eyes closed.

Raven didn't know what to say. She had never felt that way before and it was both an exhilarating and terrifying experience. The intense feelings making her heart race was amazing but the fact that it caused to her lose control for a second frightened her. She was right. There are some hidden emotions she hasn't faced yet that could end up doing some damage. And if a small lightbulb burst just from putting on some clothes she couldn't imagine what could happen if things were "_serious._"

"Its fine." Raven said with a blush as she looked at the ground in front of her. She felt a little embarrassed that she lost control for a second. But she couldnt tell her friends why she lost control. After all... she didn't even really know why. Raven looked around for a second and found where Terra had picked out the underwear for her and placed it back in its place before returning to her friends, "let's just find something for Starfire tonight ok?" With that she began walking out of the store.

Terra and Starfire looked at each other for a second a little confused. Was she not mad? She didn't sound disturbed at all. In fact her tone was a little more upbeat than normal. They shrugged at each other and followed behind Raven to another store.

As they entered the next store Starfire's eyes lit up with sparkles shinning off of them. She levitate off the ground and hovered over to the dress in front of her. She knew instantly this was the one.

"Its perfect," Terra said agreeing with Starfire's choice. Not that she just wanted to be done with this witch-hunt for a dress but she thought it really was _perfect_.

"Looks like our work here is done," Raven chimed in as she watched the star struck Starfire swoon over the dress but all she could think about was the image she saw in the mirror of that dressing room.

"What are you waiting for?" Terra asked loudly, "go try it on!" She yelled with a smile.

Starfire looked back at them and giggled with glee as she snatched the dress up off the display model and flew like a missile to the nearest dressing room.

Terra and Raven slowly began making their way over to Starfire as she began to change into the dress she found and unknown to them someone was hovering over the mall looking down through the glass windows watching their every move...

"Aw... I wanted to be there for her first date," a familiar dark voice sarcastically said, "well... since I missed the first date I guess this one will have to do..." the voice finished with a dark smirk.


	6. We're Not Kids Anymore

**A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry for the wait. I hope you guys are having better luck with this epidemic than I am. But rest assured, so long as I can type I'll be trying to get more chapters to you! This story is really starting to come together in my mind but if you guys have any suggestions I'm always open and willing to hear them. :) As always leave a fav/follow (and maybe even a share lol) as well as a review and let me know how I'm doing! Hope you enjoy!**

A tall apatrment building in the heart of Jump City stood out among its neighbors. It had undergone a tremendous amount of construction after the destruction of the city that Slade and his army of omnidroids had caused the previous year. The neighborhood was by no means the friendliest as sirens could be heard from inside the apartment on a daily basis, making cheap and affordable to just about everyone but nice enough to deal with the constant chaos outside.

Running water of a shower could be heard continuously pouring over the fresh scars and toned muscles of the new solo hero. He leaned against the wall with the shower head as the pouring water weighed down his think growing hair nearly covering his eyes.

Dick's head was lowered as the water ran over his body. His mind was filled with a constant dred of the previous months he had endured. Memories of his failures continued to plague his soul as if he could see them happening over and over right in front of himself.

_"I'm disappointed," _the evil sound of his nemesis he had been tracking rang in his ears like a droning sound that hid its location, _"with your new look and catchy name, I expected more of a fight out of you..."_ Richard clenched his teeth. After everything he'd been through and all the rigorous training that made his life a literal hell he still wasn't strong enough to take on Slade alone. Hazy images of his fading vision only lead him to assume he was near death. His enemy towered over him looking down at him and in that moment Dick knew he had been bested as he lay on ground struggling to hold on, _"I will say I was surprised you came after me alone..."_

_"He's not alone_..."

Faint images of a dark figure falling from the heavens landing in between him and his foe almost seemed too surreal to be true almost like a half remembered dream. But that voice was clear as day. He knew who it was that had saved him and it left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Richard closed his eyes and sighed. He should be grateful. Praising his rescuer for saving his life yet... He only felt disappointment and resentment towards himself. He sighed and lifted his head from the hot water above the stream pointing his closed eyes towards the ceiling.

"Thought you said I was ready?" His voice was filled with depression.

He turned the water off and pulled the curtain back letting the steam fill the rest of the bathroom. He wiped the fog off the mirror creating a circle to see his face and looked at himself. Scars of his latest fight were etched into his chest just below his left shoulder that looked like something had explode from inside his body leaving stretched lines of pink tissue flowing like rivers to one central point where the attack had landed on him.

His eyes were focused. He stared into his reflection as if trying to mentally interrogate the man looking back at him. It was like he didn't even know who was standing in front of him.

Richard sighed, grabbed a white towel off the towel rack and began drying himself off before wrapping the towel around his waist covering himself before he left the bathroom. The steam of the bathroom had faded and all but vanished as it met the cooler air in the living area. His room was furnished with on sale furniture that he got for cheap but it was nice enough to make his room look decent like he was doing well for himself.

He sat on the brown polyester couch and picked up the remote off the small black coffee table and turned on the news while he waited for the day to go by until his date with Starfire. It was still too early to get ready but he just wanted the day to go by so he could get out of his apartment that held his mind captive like a prisoner.

As the news played on he could see his friends had a great amount of success in his absence. Crime rates were way down and the cities moral was at an all time high, praising the titans for fending off the major criminals like Control Freak and The Hive from running rampant.

It brought a small smile to his face knowing they had better luck in their endeavors than he did. But it brought a question to the back of his mind... Did he make the right choice in leaving the team?

As the day continued on, Starfire and the girls continued to enjoy their shopping spree. With her newly purchased dress outlined in a protective cover they began making their way out of the mall and back to the Tower.

Clouds rolled through the sky casting comforting shadows that block the heat of the sun just enough to keep the temperature comfortable. It was almost a shame to stay in on such a gorgeous day. Nonetheless, they retreat back to the Tower to help Starfire mentally prepare for the night ahead.

"Are you excited?!" Terra asked as the date neared closer. Any minute now Richard would be coming by to pick her up.

"Oh very excited!" Starfire replied, "it has been too, the long, since I had a proper a night with my Richard." She blushed as she spoke as if she were revealing a dark secret she kept to herself.

"Yeah... I can imagine," Raven replied with her monotone voice, "just be careful not to get too personal right away."

The room went silent and the girls looked at Raven a little confused.

"What do you mean?" Terra asked curiously.

Raven realized what she said and it dawned on her they didn't see what she saw when he returned. She was about to speak before she hesitated and thought if it was a good idea to put the thought in Starfire's mind right before her date.

"Nothing. Forget I said anything," she quickly dodged deciding not to possibly ruin what should be a perfect evening.

"No, I must insist," Starfire shot back, "if there is something about Richard that I should be aware of I wish for you to tell me."

Raven thought about it again. She looked into Starfire's eyes. She could see the sense of worry that Raven was trying avoid had already set it. There was no point in holding it back now. She sighed and lowered her head...

"Look, this is just an assumption and it might not even be true... but something didn't seem right with him when he came back. I think something might have happened too him while he was away."

Starfire's heart sank. She felt awful she didn't see right away. Only when Raven pointed it out did she notice. His confidence wasn't as strong as it used to be. He hesitated more than usual and he seemed to put hero work as less of a priority. This isn't normal for him. She began to worry more.

"I... believe you are correct," Starfire admit, "he has not been the usual Richard we have known for so long."

"Really?" Terra asked curiously, "I didn't think there was _anything _that could bring him down."

"Well whatever it is... Just be careful not to force him into saying anything he doesn't want to talk about. Just try to enjoy the night as much as you can." Raven finished. She truly wanted the night to go as best as it could but she feared she may have ruined that already just by opening her mouth.

"I shall," Starfire said softly before looking back up at Raven and Terra with a smile, "and I thank you for telling me. I am truly humbled to have such amazing friends as you."

Terra and Raven smiled back at Starfire and wished her the best on her long anticipated date. Not even a minute later the doors to the Tower opened and Richard stepped into the living room where Beastboy was sitting on the couch watching TV.

"Looking fancy there Dick," Beastboy said with a playful grin, "trying to impress me?"

"You wish," Richard shot back. He was wearing a flashy dark chocolate blazer with a skin tight black t-shirt and dark black khaki pants with dark chocolate dress shoes. It was formal enough for any fancy restaurant but relaxed enough to enjoy the night comfortably, "I feel bad for Raven though... I doubt you ever try to impress her like this," he said playfully teasing back.

"Ha! If I dressed like you, Raven might dump me," he chuckled, "besides... those fancy date thingys aren't really our style. I don't think I've ever seen Rae dress in anything besides her robes." He glanced back at the TV to realize he missed the best part of the re-run epsiode he was watching, "ah man! See that's why I don't dress up. It's too distracting from what's more important in life."

"A re-run episode from a discontinued show?" Richard asked raising an eyebrow.

"_Exactly_." Beastboy confirmed with all the confidence in the world.

Richard shook his head with a smile and sat next to Beastboy on the couch. They continued to watch the episode play on in silence before Richard decided to ask Beastboy a question...

"So you never go out with Raven?" He said trying to play catch up with his close friend.

Beastboy's eyes remained on the screen so he wouldn't miss anything else but he still respond to the question, "nah... I mean... I _tried _to see if she'd want to go do something fancy... but she always seems to think I'm gonna embarrass her or somethin'."

Richard thought about that for a second and could see where Raven was coming from, "well... she has a point..." he said under his breath.

"But if I'm being honest... I would give my limited edition, prized copy, of Space Monkeys 2 for a chance to see Raven in a pretty dress." Beastboy finished with a heavy voice as his attention diverted from the show up to the ceiling as if picturing his girlfriend in a tight, revealing dress. He almost sounded like he was starved for affection from Raven.

The doors behind the couch rushed open turning the boys attention to the three girls entering the living area with Starfire in front of Raven and Terra, wearing her new dress. The two girls stood behind her with proud smiles on their faces looking at the beauty of their friend.

"Dude..." Beastboy said in awe as his jaw dropped.

Starfires dress was stunning to say the least. It was a strapless, backless, dress that showed off her flawless skin on her shoulders and chest, tightly clinging to the natural curves of her breasts, torso, and hips before falling like a gracious waterfall over the toned curves of her backside and waist to her ankles revealing dark blue high-heels giving her a few inches of height to her figure. The dress was dazzling with a dark sapphire blue color that made her eyes shine like green dimond-emeralds above a sea of blue jewels. This was accompanied by a small dark blue purse she clasped in both hands in front of her.

Richard's jaw also dropped. He felt he didn't deserve such a gorgeous woman.

Starfire saw the boys ogling her and began to get flustered, " Please..." she started with a nervous voice, "I look... nice?" She said with a blush.

Moments of the first day the met rushed through his mind as this was the second time he had heard her ask that question. Richard stood up and began walking towards Starfire with stars in his eyes. He'd never seen anyone as gorgeous as her in that moment. He almost completely forgot what she had asked because he was so focused on her beauty.

"Richard?" Starfire asked anxiously waiting for an answer.

Richard cleared his throat before finally realizing he wasn't alone with Starfire, "words can't describe how beautiful you look..."

Starfire's anxiety disappeared as her eyes lit up with joy. Raven and Terra looked at each other and smirked. That is _exactly_ what he was supposed to say.


	7. The Date

**A/N: Hey everyone! Welcome back. This chapter is going to spark a lot of exciting chapters in the future. I really hope you guys like it! Introducing some chararters that never made it to the 2003-2006 series but they are definitely in the DC universe so I'll do my best to keep it accurate but I need you guys to hold me to that! As always drop a fav/follow/share and leave me a review let me know how I'm doing. Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy!**

The room stared at the couple, envious of what they had. A strong love that seemed to face all the odds and struggles and somehow find a way to make it work. It was inspiring to the others.

Richard held out an elbow for Starfire to grip with her own and as she did they began heading for the exit and all the eyes in the room followed their movement towards the door.

"Goodbye friends!" Starfire shouted in a giddy voice as they began leaving, "if you should need any assistance please contact us at any time!"

Richard looked back at his friends and smiled before the door to the Tower closed behind him. As they approached his bike he picked her up with his powerful arms and placed her on the back seat with her legs bent on one side before he stratled the bike in front of her and started the engine. Starfire wrapped her arms tightly around his waist and Richard pressed a button on his bike. A narrow runway like a sidewalk rose from the ocean, connecting Titans Tower to the not too distant shore of Jump City. Richard twisted the throttle and they took off down the narrow pathway. Cyborg had built this entrance for Richard when he went solo incase he ever needed to get to the Tower.

After a quick ride through the city, Richard and Starfire arrived at the nice restaurant he wanted to treat her to and parked on the street at a meter. He quickly dismounted and lifted Starfire off the bike placing her on the side walk before paying for the meter.

Starfire couldn't help but smile with a blush as she watched him dance around his bike before they finally got to have some much needed time alone together. She took his arm once more and they walked through the giant glass doors with embroidered silver linings that framed the door with a sense of elegance.

The host seating tables was a tall and slender man. He stood at a small podium wearing a tuxedo with a sharp looking bow-tie and greeted the two heroes as they approached.

"Reservations?" He asked with a small grin.

"Yes," Richard said clearing his throat, "they should be under the name: Grayson?" He wasn't very comfortable using his birth name even though the people didn't seem to hold any resentment towards him. No one knew why he tried to avoid using it so much. His friends could only assume it reminded him of his past. A past that was filled with too much pain.

The tall man dabbed his index finger against his tongue and flipped the page of the Reservations book on the podium in front of him. After a few seconds he found the name he was looking for.

"Right this way, Mr. Grayson," he held a hand out in front of him directing the two towards their table.

"Ladies first," Dick said with a smile. He nod his head towards the host and Starfire giggled as she took the lead in front of him.

They sat at a table off to the side of the restaurant next to a calming water feature with a luscious garden of exotic plants all around it. It was easily the best seat in the restaurant.

"Wow!!!" Starfire exclaimed with her eyes shining like stars, "it is most magnificent!"

Richard didn't even notice the garden of exotic flowers or the calming water feature that looked like a small river flowing through them. His eyes were fixed on Starfire. Her excitment over the simplest things. Her smile that could light up the darkest room. Getting lost in her eyes... It was the most at peace he had felt in the time he had gone solo.

"Yeah..." Dick respond. He blushed and managed to mumble under his breath, "absolutely gorgeous." But he wasn't referring to the garden.

Back at the Tower, Raven and Terra sat on the couch next to Beastboy to watch TV with him.

"Hello ladies," he said with a smug smile, "care to indulge yourselves in some Clash of the Planets?" He said with a sarcastic seductive voice as he flipped channels to the Clash of the Planets marathon.

Raven grabbed her book off the coffee table and sat next to Beastboy. She sat a little further from him this time. Usually she'd lean against him and get close but this time she had a small distance as if defending herself from him.

Beastboy held up and arm for her to slide under and get comfortable but Raven only opened her book and began reading silently without acknowledging him. He felt a slight twinge of pain in his heart like she was punishing him for something. Usually he'd ask for forgiveness and admit his mistake... but he didn't know what he did this time.

"Which one is it?" Terra said sitting on the other side of Beastboy. She knew there was an entire trilogy of these movies but didn't know them well enough to point out which one was which.

Beastboy looked over at Terra and his ears perked up as his excitement for some attention was fulfilled, "the first one! It's almost over though... but it's a marathon! The next one will be on right after." He said with a wide smile looking back at the TV. Getting lost in a alternate universe of sci-fi fantasy was most certainly one of his guilty pleasures.

The film ended shortly after and the credits began to roll. Commercials began to play on one half of the screen as the credits continued to roll on the other half indicating the next film in the marathon was coming on next.

Terra looked over at Raven and saw she was troubled. Her mind was clearly distracted as she read her book. Seeing as how a commercial was playing, Terra thought this might be her best chance to talk to her...

"Hey... Raven?" Raven looked up from her book at Terra who called for her attention, "what did you mean when you told Star that something might have happened to Dick?"

Beastboy zoned in on this conversation completely ignoring when his marathon would continue. This was more important than missing his favorite TV programs.

Raven looked from Terra to Beastboy then back to Terra. Their eyes were fixed on her waiting for her response. She let out a small sigh and decided to just come out with it...

"Dick is struggling with something," she admit looking away from their begging eyes, "he's not as confident as he used to be. He kept in touch for a few months then just vanished completely," she closed her book and placed her hands in her lap fiddling with the hard cover of the thick fold of pages she held, "I can't know for sure..." she looked up at them making eye contact to show her seriousness, "but I think he might have gotten hurt... _Seriously_ hurt," she paused as her voice filled with guilt, "and we weren't there to help him."

Terra and Beastboy looked at each other with concern. They didn't think anything could stop Richard. He had the strongest willpower out of any of the Titans. Out of anyone they knew. Nothing could ever break his determination or crack his mental state... But if Raven was telling them that something was wrong, they knew it must be serious.

"H-he seemed ok to me..." Beastboy said with a stutter knowing that Raven might snap at him.

"Yeah... I didn't think he was any different when I saw him..." Terra add defending Beastboy's point.

"I know," Raven shot back defensively, "but something's off. I could sense it. I'm worried I might have said too much and now Starfire is going to try to talk it out of him."

"And if we know one thing about Dick... He doesn't like to open up," Beastboy said connecting the dots. He could see why Raven was concerned. She feared she doomed her good friend's date to disaster.

"But you told her not to," Terra said trying lift Raven's spirits, "I mean c'mon... Starfire isn't _that_ dense. I'm sure she knows not to press him on it..."

Beastboy and Raven looked at Terra like she should know better. If there was ever a time anyone was even _slightly_ upset, Starfire was the first one to try to fix the issue however she could. Most of the time she wouldn't rest until she helped resolve the issue but if the issue couldn't be fixed it would take someone like Raven to scream at her to get her to back off. Starfire was relentless when it came to helping her friends. It was both her best and worst quality.

Terra stared back at their judging eyes with a little confusion. After a moment she couldn't figure out what they were trying to get across to her and forced her to ask them verbally.

"What?" Terra asked aggressively.

Raven and Beastboy looked at each other both concerned for their friends date.

Meanwhile back at the restaurant...

"And that is how we defeated control freak _and _The Hive members at _the same_ time," Starfire finished her story with a smile. She was excited to tell Dick about her accomplishments while he was away hoping he would be proud of her.

"Wow," Dick said with an impressed look on his face, "you guys have been removing crime as a whole while I've been gone." He chuckled nervously... He was immensely proud of her but he also felt a little jealous that he didn't have the same kind of success in his own endeavors.

Dick sat across from Starfire with a menu open in front of him. Starfire had a menu open as well, however, she didn't understand what most of the entrees were. It was her first time in such an extravagant restaurant. It almost made her feel a little uncomfortable. But each time she'd look across the small table at her date she would relax and know all is well. Except... for what Raven had told her earlier...

_I think something might have happened to him while he was away..._

Starfire could see it clearer now. His posture wasn't as up-right and proud. He didn't have that assertive confidence he would usually wear on his sleeve. Something _was_ off and Starfire bit her lower lip trying to keep herself from pressuring him on it.

"So... Um... I... Enjoy the abundance of your hair..." She stumbled over her words trying to engage in conversation.

Richard looked up from his menu and chuckled as he ran his right hand through the thick lengths of his hair from the top of his forehead to the back of his neck, "thanks! I uh... haven't really had the time to get it cut." He replied with a smile.

Starfire returned the smile but then lowered her head and her smile began to fade.

"Hey... is everything ok?" Richard asked softly seeing the distress on her face.

Starfire felt a jolt of panic... She knew exactly where this conversation would go but no matter how hard she fought it she still managed to say the things she knew she shouldn't.

"Oh! Everything is fine! How about yourself? Is everything, the fine, with you as well?" Starfire felt beads of sweat starting to protrude from her brow and the nervousness began to set in...

"Yeah..." Richard said with confusion in his voice, "everything is fine..."

"Then might you tell me where you have been and what happened on your travels?" Starfire couldn't believe what she was saying. It was like the words were pouring out of her mouth against her will. As much as she wanted the answers she knew that she shouldn't be interrogating her date like this.

"It's... A long story," Richard said lowering his head, "maybe some other time?" He asked hoping to put it off indefinitely.

"You know you can tell me anything," Starfire continued to insist.

"Star..." Richard said softly beginning to get annoyed.

"Please, I just wish to know what happened while you were-" Starfire was interrupted by Richard's raised voice.

"Star!" He yelled across the table, "can we just enjoy our dinner?" He finished his sentence softly as if pleading her to drop the subject.

The whole restaurant in the immediate vicinity was staring at them and the room quickly grew uneasy as a sense of tension filled the air.

"Oh... Um... yes." Starfire said with a somber voice, "forgive me," she stood up grabbing her small purse, "I must use the restroom." She stood still for a second as she turned from the table in her stunning dress next to the beautiful garden before she began walking firmly to the ladies room.

Richard watched her stunning beauty walk off and sighed heavily as he began to stare blankly at the menu he still held.

_Maybe I should just tell her..._ He thought to himself.

Starfire pushed the heavy door to the bathroom open and walked over to a sink where a giant mirror that covered the wall stood above it. She leaned on to the long marble counter that held every sink and set her purse down next to the sink she was leaning over. She closed her eyes and hung her head low.

_Oh X'hal... What have I done? Raven warned me this would happen, yet I still could not stop it from happening. What if he wishes to never speak to me again?_

The sound of the bathroom door opening echoed through the room and Starfire looked up into the mirror to see another woman approaching behind her to the sink next to hers.

She wore a black and grey dress that had a business-like appearance. It shaped her hour glass figure perfectly giving her a very alluring appearance. Her hair was silver like a sharpened butcher's knife and flowed down over the top of her shoulders to her mid-back like a flowing river of grey clouds. Starfire was mesmerized for a moment as her prominent features dazzled her. This strange woman then pulled a tube of lipstick out of her purse and leaned towards the mirror to get a close look at where she wanted to apply a fresh coat of makeup.

The woman glanced over at Starfire who continued to stare at her in the reflection of the mirror. Starfire gasped to see she was discovered and turned back to her own mirror...

"Guy problems?" The woman asked with a chuckle as she lowered the lipstick and stood up straight to check her work in the mirror from a distance.

"Huh? Oh... why would you say that?" Starfire said once again stumbling over her words, flustered from the question, "I do not understand. What are these problems of the guy you speak of?"

The woman let out a quick laugh and turned to face Starfire while leaning on the counter with her right arm, "oh sweety... I've seen that look before. Usually right after a gal has had her heart crushed."

"Surely you are mistaken. My heart is... is..

..." Starfire trailed off as she turned to face the stranger who had an eyebrow raised like she wasn't buying anything being said to her. Starfire sighed, "I fear I may have pushed him away... and right after he just got back. I do not wish to lose him again."

"Is that all?" The woman exclaimed. She was shocked it was something so minimal, "that's an easy fix." She opened her bag and pulled put a different color of lipstick, "all we gotta do is give you a quick touch-up so he completely forgets all about it when he sees you." She pulled the top off the lipstick and twist the knob on the bottom producing a dark red color of lipstick. She then held it out to Starfire hoping she would accept her help.

Starfire looked down at the makeup being handed to her and hesitated, "oh... um... I have never used such devices before. I'm not quite sure how to-"

"Honey," the woman interpreted slightly annoyed, "it's lipstick. Real simple... Just take the pretty part and put it on your lips until you like what you see."

Starfire gave a small smile before taking the tube from the stranger and held it up to her lips as she stared at herself in the mirror. Just as she was about to apply some to her lips the tube made a hissing sound as if air was escaping from it.

In the mirror Starfire could see a small cloud of dark green smoke exiting the tube she held that was pointed directly at her mouth and nose. She finally began to realize what was happening. She tossed the tube at the stranger next to her but her arm fell limp and the tube landed at her enemies feet. Her vision started to blur and her knees grew weak as they buckled under her before collapsing completely. She landed on bathroom floor next to the dangerous tube of lipstick filled with knock-out gas. Starfire moaned in pain from the fall as she slipped into unconsciousness.

The strange woman stood over Starfire with a triumphant look on her face as if she had just caught the prey she was hunting for.

"That was _too _easy." She boasted with an evil grin.


	8. The Chase Begins

**A/N: Welcome back! Sorry I took so long with this chapter but I FINALLY have something I'm happy with publishing. also have been pretty busy lately with all the online homework I've been given. So bare with me if I seem slower than normal. Anyways... you know the drill lol Fav/follow/share and PLEASE leave a review and let me know how I can improve or what you might want to see in this story! Thanks for reading! hope you enjoy!**

Soft and relaxing music fills the air. A grand piano let's beautiful tones fly from the strings. Each frequency dances with the next in the most alluring and mesmerizing melody.

Richard had set the menu down as he had decided what to order. His hands were atop of the menu on the table in front of him. His eyes focused fiercely as the time ticked by. His concern for Starfire grew steadily as he waited much longer than he imagined he would.

_Did I go to far? _He thought to himself.

A waiter wearing a tuxedo different from the host's approached. It was a white tuxedo with black pants. The difference was most likely so the customers wouldn't get the host confused for a waiter.

"Are you ready to order, sir?" He asked in a friendly tone noticing the worry on his customers face.

Richard looked up at the man who snapped him out of his deep thought, "oh, um... I think I'll give her another minute." He respond with a fake smile.

"Very well," the waiter replied still smiling, "as soon as she comes back I'll be right over." He bowed his head slightly to show his respects to Richard's wishes and stepped back before moving to the next table assigned to him.

_Maybe I should go check on her..._

At the Tower, Cyborg just finished working on the T-Ship and entered the living area with the others still on the couch. He still held a rag he was using to dry his hands of grease and oil.

"Whoa... What goin on in here?" He said noticing Terra watching TV with Raven and Beastboy, "who said y'all could have a movie night without me?" He said in a melodramatic tone hold his hands up like the world was ending.

The three of them on the couch turned to see Cyborg toss the rag he held on the counter before walking up to them. They all laughed at his comment.

"Actually, we just said good bye to Richard and Starfire as they left for their date not too long ago," Terra said trying to reassure his dramatic reaction that they weren't doing anything fun with out him.

"Ahhhhh," Cyborg said with excitment in his voice, "it's about time Dick start putting some _real _moves on Star."

"Yeah," Beastboy chuckled, "I'm kinda shocked they havent done this sooner."

"So where did he take her?" Cyborg asked as he walked around the couch and sat next to Terra.

"We don't know," Raven replied with her monotone voice, "they never told us, we could only assume it was a surprise."

Cyborg grew a fat devilish grin on his face, "Wanna find out?"

The other looked at him confused.

"Uh... dude?" Beastboy said concerned, "you didn't build some super top secret spy camera on them did you?"

The girls glared at Cyborg after hearing that sentence.

"No!" Cyborg said instantly defending himself, "I just meant we can look up their communicator locations! Geez! What kind of robot do think I am?!"

The girls relaxed their gaze and looked at each other. It still felt a little wrong to spy on their friend's date but curiosity was getting the better of them. They got a little giddy shortly after and couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Yes!!!" They said in unison, "I gotta know!"

Cyborg laughed at their reaction and went over to the computer changing the screen from the TV to a map of Jump City.

"Hey!" Beastboy yelled, "I was watching that!"

"C'mon B," Cyborg said playfully, "this'll be fun."

"Are you really that interested in where Dick took Star out to?" Beastboy asked Raven. This wasn't normal for her. she usually doesn't care for those kinds of things.

Raven looked at Beastboy and blushed before turning her eyes to the side to avoid eye contact, "I'm... I'm just curious." She fumbled over her words.

"Well I'm _dying _to know!" Terra said loudly, "can you imagine how nice of a place it must be if they were dressed up like that?!" Terra's eyes sparkled with her mind running wild with imagination. She blushed at the thought of having a date like that too one day.

"I wouldn't know..." Raven said with a grim tone, "but I... think..."

"Yeah?" Beastboy asked with great interest in this new side of Raven he hasn't seen yet.

Raven got flustered at thought of looking as spectacular as Starfire with Beastboy for a fancy night out. It made her blush just like Terra which caused her to lash out with a frustrated tone.

"I don't know! Maybe it would be nice some day to try it," Raven blurt out loudly.

Beastboy got excited at that thought but before he could respond Cyborg spoke up.

"Found 'em!" He said pointing to the screen, "They're at..." he stopped short when he noticed something odd, "that's weird..."

"What is it? Where are they?! What's the restaurant called?!" Terra began asking frantically.

"Well... Dick is in some restaurant but Star is nowhere near him. And shes moving fsat," Cyborg said with concern.

"Try her communicator," Raven said with concern, "maybe there's a reason."

Cyborg hit the call button the keyboard in front of him and the monitor displayed a blank black window with red letters popping up in the window that read _Calling..._It rang... It rang over and over with no answer. This was not normal. Starfire is their leader now and she never misses a call.

"Try Richard's communicator," Raven said even more concerned.

The black window on the screen blinked away before returning with a different IP address...

At the restaurant Richard had swallowed his pride after waiting for what felt like forever for his date to return to the table. He stood up and walked towards the womens restroom. He knocked softly before asking loudly through the door...

"Star? You ok?" Richard couldn't help but feel even more terrible than when he returned. This was supposed to be a date to get them back on track and he felt he had upset her even worse.

When he didn't receive a response to his first knock he was about to knock again but louder before his communicator began ringing in his pocket. It nearly made him jump as he retract his fist from the door and reached into his pocket pulling out the device.

"Hey, now's not a good time-" he said before getting interrupted.

"Is Starfire with you?" Cyborg said aggressively not even listening to Richard.

"What?" Richard respond confused, "yeah she's in the restroom. She's been in there a while and I'm checking on her-"

"Dick!" Raven yelled interrupting him again, "can you _see _her?!"She asked with a sense of ferocious concern.

Richard could see the panic in their faces as the looked up at him from the device in his hand. The dots connected and he also began to panic. He threw the door open making it swing violently and smash into the wall it was connected to.

The room was empty. The only thing that could be seen was Starfire's small bag on the counter. He rushed over to pick it up and confirm it was hers. His heart began pounding with adrenaline. He was losing her. Losing her for a reason he didn't understand but still felt was his fault. He looked around the room and under the counter of the sink he found a small tube of lipstick. He picked it up and instantly smelled the scent of chloroform and some other smell he didn't recognize. His blood began to boil. Someone had taken her. He knew this for a fact.

He bolt out of the bathroom past a woman who was in the middle of saying "You can't be in here! It's the women's room!" The words didn't even have time to reach Dick's ears from how fast he was sprinting to the exit.

"Cyborg! Where is she?!" He yelled into his communicator as he exit the fine dining establishment and ran to his bike. He straddled is and turned the key to start the engine without even attempting to put on his helmet.

"She's headed east on Blanchard!" Cyborg respond.

The tires screeched and the bike swung out from underneath him into the road and he floored the gas sending him into a wheelie before touching back down at full speed.

The silver haired beauty was in the back of a vehicle putting heavy restraints on her prey as she lay unconscious. She had a dark grin on her face like she had just won the lottery for villains. But her smile didn't last long as the back of the vehicle was filled with sound of a Titan's communicator ringing.

Her faced turned to panic and confusion. _Where is it coming from? _She then lifted the dress of her victim just high enough over her calves to find a small communicator strapped to her ankle. Stylish yet concealed. hidden well by the fall of her dress.

"Crap..." The woman said aloud under her breath. She then strolled over to the back window and peered out to see if she was being followed.

There was no sign of anyone desperately chasing them or trying to catch up to them. It gave her a false sense of hope that maybe her friends had just noticed her missing and that's where the call came from. She was just about to return to heavily restraining her catch before something caught her eye.

Some riding a street bike was ducking in and out of view behind an SUV as if trying to main a visual without trying to give himself away.

She turned to her driver and barked the order, "take a right at the next light. Get off our route and use a detour."

"Yes ma'am!" The foot solder replied loyally.

As he made the next right she observed out the back window once more looking for any assailants. Just as she thought as the SUV passed through the light the bike behind it turned right on to the street they were on.

"We're being followed..." She whispered through the grit of her teeth.


	9. An Old Enemy

**A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for tuning in! Sorry it took longer than normal for this chapter but I was on vacation this past weekend and put everything on hold and took some time to myself. I LOVE how this story is shaping up and I hope you do too! As always drop a fav/follow and leave me a review! I'm always open to constructive criticism and your own personal ideas. :) Hope you enjoy!**

The high pitch roar of a small but powerful engine was nearing it's limit. Richard was screaming down the road, dodging in and out of cars as if they were standing still.

"Cyborg! Where is she now?!" He yelled into his communicator.

"She's been stopped for a few minutes now... you're almost on top of her." Cyborg replied with uncertainty. To him, it seemed unusual that she would be moving so much only to stop completely after they tried contacting her... "STOP!" Cyborg screamed to Dick.

The tires let out a long and piercing screech as Dick slammed on the breaks, popping a front wheelie as he halted.

The back tire slammed to the ground with a thud and he began to look around. His emerald eyes glared through squinted eye lids, scanning his surroundings quickly but thoroughly. When his eyes found nothing obvious he began to worry.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Dick asked sharply as he continued to look around.

"Yeah," Cyborg said with his voice filled with disappointment, "she should be right next to you."

Dick looked down at the street where he was stopped near the curb. His eyes met something familiar in the gutter. He was so close to it, he didn't even need to dismount his bike to reach. He leaned over and picked up the circular device with the letter "T" in the center. He found Starfire's communicator.

"It's her communicator," Dick confirmed for all the others impatiently listening in on the situation.

Raven looked from Terra to Cyborg and finally to Beastboy, "what do we do?" She asked with a heightened sense of panic behind her monotone voice.

Meanwhile, in the back of a moving van, the strange woman grew more and more irritated as every attempt she made to evade their follower was unsuccessful. It got to the point where she wasn't even concerned with getting caught anymore. She knew that who ever was following them _knew_ they had a kidnapped Titan in the back.

"Driver step on it!" She yelled. Without hesitation the car lunged forward with intense speed.

The car began weaving in and out of cars in traffic while running red lights and ignoring all laws.

The face of the mysterious person tailing them grew shocked. He knew they must have figured out he was following them but he didn't expect them to make a move like this. He rolled his wrist back on the throttle and the engine of his bike rang out with a high pitch roar. He took off after them dodging in and out of all the same cars the van he tailed was weaving through.

The silver haired woman grit her teeth. She had an idea of who was following them after she saw his talents on the bike. She could only assume he was after the same thing she was.

"Fine. _Two_ can play at this game." She whispered angrily to herself.

She pulled out weapon that looked like a pistol however it had some kind of futuristic look to it. It was smooth and rounded and held a high pitched whine as it powered up in between shots.

She moved to the back of the van where she threw open the double doors and took aim from the moving vehicle towards the masked biker. With each high pitch whine the weapon let out a low pitch blast followed by a red beam that detonated on impact of whatever it touched. She pulled the trigger again and again each blast missing its mark as the biker weaved back and forth with incredible balance and precision. He seemed to be waiting for his moment of opportunity.

Then as the van's driver continued to weave in and out of cars he had to take a rather rough turn causing the woman in the back to lose balance and she had to retreat into the van to regain her composure.

This was his chance. The biker sped up towards the van but before he could leap off his bike into the back with his enemy, she raised the weapon back at him and pulled the trigger.

Without hesitation the masked biker raised his palm towards the weapons muzzle and a small "X" discharged from his palm covering the muzzle just as she pulled the trigger.

The womans eyes went wide in panic and she attempted to throw the weapon at her enemy before it could detonate in her hand but it was too fast for her to react and it explode just as it left her hand. She let out a cry of pain as the explosion sending her body flying into the front seat and slamming against the windshield cracking it in all directions making visibility through it impossible.

The driver slammed on his breaks not able to see through the destroyed windshield. This caused the biker to whip the tail of his bike around screeching the tires to a halt as he jumped off into the back of the van where the unconscious Starfire still lay with her hands bound.

The driver whipped his head around to see the intruder in the back of his vehicle and he started to draw a pistol from his belt but before he could get a shot off the gun was sliced in half by a spinning red "X" that ended up stuck in the dashboard of the van. It was hurled at him from the masked man standing in the back. He also had a palm with a second red "X" in the center of it raised towards the driver as if begging the him to continue fighting but the driver wasn't stupid. He raised his hands in surrender.

The darkness of the van kept the intruder's face concealed as he returned his gaze down at the gorgeous alien. He bent over and picked her up bridal style but before he turned to leave the woman from the front seat spoke up.

"So you're after it too, huh?" She said with a grim smirk knowing she'd been beaten by a worthy adversary.

After a small pause the headlights of passing cars lit up the inside of van exposing his face. Starfire began to rouse through groggy eyes as the face of an old enemy dawned in front of her like a pleasant nightmare. She could feel the gentle but strong touch of this man and it somehow comforted her.

The car headlights lit up the mask of a white skull with a red "X" carved into it. his entire body was covered in a black suit with a silver belt powered by an ominous red glow.

Red-X looked from Starfire's beautiful face whose eyes once again faded shut, back to the face of the grim smirking woman covered in scratches as a streak of blood began streaming from her silver hair down her forehead. His gaze slowly returned to Starfire before he spoke...

"I have my own reasons," his voice sounded nearly robotic but clear enough to hear his actual voice hidden behind the mask he wore. With that he turned and lept out of the van onto his bike where he carefully balanced Starfire who unknowingly leaned into his chest by habit as she sat in between his legs. He twist the throttle and the bike gently moved forward as he drove away. He took extra care as not to disturb the woman he held with one arm as he drive with the other.

In the distance Dick could hear the blasts of some unusual weapon being fired. He put Starfire's communicator in his pocket and took off after the faint blasts in the distance.

_Hold on Star. I'm coming. _He thought to himself.

The blasts grew louder and louder as he closed the distance between him and the sound, until they stopped altogether after the last and loudest explosion occurred. Dick grew worried. His only source of finding Starfire had stopped. He began to grow desperate and started darting from street to street looking for anything out of the ordinary.

After what must have felt like ages of searching, Richard slammed on his breaks as he passed a van with a smoking engine and crushed windshield. He whipped his bike around and pulled right up next to it before jumping off and rushing to the scene. To his surprise the driver door was open. The passenger door was open. The back doors were open. But there was no one inside.

Dick slammed his fist against the side of the van with a loud and angry grunt. His breathing was accelerated but he took three deep breaths before he began looking around for clues. The one the stood out to him the most was the most familiar thing he saw.

A red "X" stuck in the dashboard of the van. He had a suspect. Though something didn't seem right. Red-X wouldn't travel in a van like this. Red-X was rarely even a threat let alone a problem. Why would he start causing problems now? This didn't make sense.

Dick shook off his confusion and started looking around for more clues. From the passenger side he found a trail of blood drips. From the looks of it... it didn't seem too serious or life threatening but enough to know whomever this was, was not having a good day. He leaned over and took a small sample of the still wet blood cells and placed it in his jacket pocket next to Starfire's communicator.

Dick could only assume Red-X was the person behind all this damage and Starfire was most likely with him now. But why? Who wanted to take Starfire in the first place? Why would Red-X get involved at all? These questions burned circles in his mind and he jumped on his bike and took off in a hurry towards the last place he would expect to find his enemy. If he were Red-X... That's where he would be.


	10. Hero, Vigilante, or Villain?

**A/N: Welcome back everyone! So finals week has been this past week and the upcoming week. So needless to say... I have had ZERO time to write. But I finally got the chance to sit down and knock this chapter out which I think is the best one so far! I really hope you guys like it. Please drop a fav/follow/share and leave me a review so I can improve my writing and if you have any ideas on where you want this to go, feel free to drop them in a review and I'll consider it!!! I read all your reviews so let them rip! Ok. Hope you enjoy! Till next chapter!**

Starfire moaned in her unconscious state. She was unreasonably comfortable for everything that had just happened, giving her the ability to rest easier. Her eyes started to twitch before they opened drowsily exposing a blurred image in front of her.

The soft comfort of a freshly fluffed pillow covered in a silk pillowcase caressed the back of her head through her beautiful hair. A thick and heavy cotton comforter weighed on her surrounding her in a warm embrace tempting her to stay there forever. The bed she lay in warpped and adujusted perfectly to the toned curves of body allowing her to be completely still without irritation, removing any and all instincts of restless adjustments. She had never felt so comfortable before. The feeling of such soothing comfort almost forced her eyes shut again as if her mind was pleading for just five more mintues.

Then it all started coming back to her and her eyes shot wide open. She sprung off the alluring bed like a pinball bouncing off a bumper, sending the weighted blanket off her body exposing her bound hands.

Starfire gasped at the sight of the device around her hands. It was the same ones that had bound her when the Gordanians abducted her from her homeland of Tamaran. As she looked around the room to get an idea of where she was she quickly realized the comfortable bed was, by far, the nicest thing in the room... In fact... it was the _only _thing in the room. Not so much as a desk, dresser, book shelf, or even a chair was in the room with her. The walls were made of some kind of metal, with greyed and rusty patches scattered about in random places mainly near the corners of the ceilings and floors. The floor was lit up with a dim glow from fluorescent lights built into the base boards of the walls. It was enough light to give the room visibility but not enough to see the room in great detail. The floor seemed to be struddy tile with little evidence of decay and the door was made of a different metal than the walls but it was clearly newer than the metal surrounding her.

Starfire didn't have the slightest idea of where she was. All she knew was her previous date with Richard was ruined and she could only imagine he thinks she left him at the restaurant. Anger began to boil in her veins. Who ever did this to her was going to pay.

Her eyes lit up with a terrifying green aura and she discharged a bolt of green power at the device binding her hands. This starbolt reflected off the bindings and shot through the ceiling leaving two small holes each surrounded by a ring of calm smoke.

"Oh, good," a human voice with a robotic counterpart filled the room, "you're awake."

Starfire jumped off the bed and stood facing the now open door with a black shadow of a figure leaning against the doorframe. A look of anger and resentment filled her face as she took a defensive stance with her bound hands raised and her eyes glowing green.

"Who are you?!" She demanded, "for what purpose have you brought me here?! I demand you release me!"

"Calm down," the robotic voice said softly raising his hands, "you're not my prisoner."

"And why should I believe your words?!" Starfire spat back defensively, "my hands are bound and I have been taken from my date against my wishes!"

The black figure stood up straight and began walking towards Starfire. Her glowing eyes grow more angry as he inched closer to her and she was about to attack before he reached up grabbed her bindings and gently pulled them towards him.

The gentle but firm grip stopped Starfire in her tracks. Her face lightened up as she observed him. This same feeling seemed eerily familiar to her. A faint image of her savior from earlier appeared in her mind. It was like trying to remember a dream from a deep slumber. She couldn't exactly make out any details of him from her vision being so hazy but she knew this was the same person. She realized he was not a threat and the green glow from her eyes fade away.

The dark figure pulled out a small silver ball no bigger than the size of a marble. It was flexible like playdough but seemed to return to its original form with each movement. He pressed the small orb to the keyhole of the binding around Starfire's hands. With a little pressure the orb slipped into the hole before causing the device to spark with tiny blue bolts of electricity causing the bindings to open in a rush and fall to the tile floor between them.

Starfire began to rub her newly freed wrists while staring at them in a bewildered state.

"I... um..." Starfire said nervously trying to understand what was happening, "I am... confused..." She looked up to the figure for clarification but instead he was already heading out of the room.

"Let's talk," the voice respond before exiting, "grab your shoes next to the bed and follow me."

Starfire looked down at the floor next to the bed. The wall it was against lit up the floor where her beautiful high heel shoes meant for special occasions sat. She remembered Richard at the sight of them and began to worry once more. She reached for her communicator only to find an empty strap on her ankle where it should have been. She gasped in fear grabbed her shoes and ran out into the hallway to chase down the unknown person.

"Where is my-"

"Your attackers got rid of it as I pursed them," the voice interrupted expecting the question, "if I had stopped to grab it I might have lost sight of them."

"My... attackers?" Starfire asked even more confused.

The figure turned from her and began walking down the hallway. The hallway was dark only illuminated at the floor like the room she was just in. They walked for a minute or two in silence before they came to a wide open room with an open ceiling allowing the moonlight to light up everything around them. A massive telescope was in the center of this room with half the building surrounding it destroyed leaving it abandoned by the city.

Starfire recognized this place. She had fought villains here before. Professor Chang if she wasn't mistaken. She began to worry this person in front of were was also a villain.

The moonlight exposed the dark figure. He was clearly visible and was covered from head to toe in a black suit with a tattered black cape and a silver belt. Even though he had his back to Starfire he seemed very familiar to Starfire now.

"I know you," Starfire exclaimed, "you're the Red X!" She gasped from shock, "but you are a villain... why would you assist me?"

Red X stopped and turned to face Starfire showing his mask, a white skull with a Red "X" etched across it which also hid his voice with a robotic relay when he spoke.

"I'm not--_UHHHGGGGHHHH!" _Before Red-X had a chance to explain he was stuck with a devastating kick from Richard who came swinging in from the open ceiling on his grappling hook.

Richard landed with his back to Starfire facing his enemy. His kick landed solid right on its mark sending his foe tumbling across the floor before slamming his back against the wall.

Instead of growing angry Red-X merely chuckled as if amused...

"Well..." He taunted, "look who decided to finally show up," he proceed to stand up and dust himself off as if nothing happened.

Richards eyes grew angry and he reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a small device that extended into a long staff with the push of a button.

"I'm going to do what I should have done a _long _time ago," Richard said with a sense of darkness behind his words. He began dashing at Red-X with a loud war cry.

"Dick wait!" Starfire yelled but her plea fell on deaf ears. Richard was in a rage and wasn't about to let this enemy get away.

Red-X drew to large, sharp, blades in the shape of "X's" on the back of his hand. Dick swung the back half of his staff from the side at the masked foe in front of him only to be stopped short by the blade of Red-X left hand.

Richard anticipated the block and immediately followed his initial attack with the other end of his staff aimed at the other side of Red-X. To Richard's surprise, his opponent didn't block with the other blade like he expected. Instead, he ducked under the strike releasing the other half of the staff he had blocked by spinning his body around, low to the ground with an extended leg.

Richard knew what was coming but the unexpected move set his body off balance with the momentum of his attack. Not to mention he was fast. The smooth coherent moves of the leg sweep seemed to perfect to avoid. Dick had no choice but to roll with the punches on this attack. Or in this case... Roll with the kicks...

Red-X leg swung through the air just barely hovering off the ground catching Richard's ankles perfectly and swept the off balance hero's feet right from under him. Thinking quickly Richard hit the ground while curling his knees to his chest and thrusting his feet back into the air as soon as his back hit the ground. This propelled the young acrobat back into the air like a bouncing ball straight to his feet where he was ready to strike again only to see a second attack from the masked villain who had already regained his stance.

He threw two quick jabs with the blades on the back of his hands that Dick almost didn't have time to react to but managed to use his staff to block both before a round house kick from X came flying at his left side.

Blocking this strike with his staff was all but impossible at this point now that it had been used to block two strikes from a different position. So instead Richard let go of his staff with his left hand and caught the powerful kick in the pocket of his armpit wrapping his arm around the ankle with all his strength. Red-X eyes went wide... He was in a bad position. This was Dick's chance to gain some distance and reset the fight.

Using the staff as an extension of his arm he swung the end of it into the gut of his opponent and twist his hips using the momentum and force of his strength to throw his enemy across the room away from him.

With a startled yell, Red-X went soaring through the air before crashing down on the hard floor and rolling to a stop. He was thrown much further than he thought he would have been. Obviously Dick had gotten stronger from the last time the had fought. Or maybe he was just growing up. He couldn't decide which was more likely. X rose to his feet and looked across the room at his target.

"Not bad kid," he said as if talking down to him, "you actually seem to know what you're doing now."

"I don't need approval from _you_," Richard shot back with disgust.

"Whatever," X shot back, "I'm just confused... if you're this good, why was _I _the one needed to save _your _girl?"

Dick clenched his teeth as the rage consumed him. It was the same question he was asking himself... How could he let someone take Star right from under him? Dick let out a cry of anger as he began charging X once more but just before he reached his target, a loud and powerful explosion detonated right in between them with a flash of green light. The blast sent both of them falling back from one another landing on their backsides looking at what could only be described as an incredible sight you'd have to see to believe.

Starfire levitate above them in the wide open room. Her hands and eyes glowing green as the gorgeous blue dress adorned in glimmering blue saphires shinning from the glow of her hands that rest near her waist. The half destroyed building allowed for a gentle breeze to caress her dress exposing her smooth toned legs every few moments. Her expression wasn't angry or sad but confused as too what was happening and why. She just wanted answers.

"You will cease this trivial engagement and explain yourselves," she ordered sharply. She truly did sound like a seasoned leader.

Red-X chuckled and looked away from her beauty for a moment, "She looks just like a godess, doesn't she?" his robotic voice said softly to the enemy he was just facing a moment ago, only five feet away from him.

Richard gave him a dirty look as his anger was still boiling. But he couldn't help but agree. She looked like she had just descend from the heavens in an effort to bring peace to the world.

Starfire descend from her elevated location and stood in between the two boys looking at Richard, "Dick, I believe him."

Richard stood up and looked down at his opponent before looking back at Starfire, "how can you be sure?" He asked defensively with an eyebrow raised.

"He released me from such a device that bound my hands," she said looking down at X, "why would he do such a thing if not to help?"

Richard heard the seriousness in her voice. She was genuinely curious about why he would do this and what had happened earlier. Richard also wanted to know and right now X was the only lead he had.

"Fine," he said with grain of salt behind his words, "it's better we find out what happened tonight anyways. I'd be disappointed if we left here with no answers."

"Thank you, Dick," Starfire respond with passion in her eyes.

"_Dick_, huh?" X said as he helped himself back to his feet, "so you guys are on the nickname level then? I thought you'd be... futher along by now."

"You don't get to use that name," Richard snapped back taking an aggressive step forwards towards the masked assailant, "the only name you'll ever refer to me as is Nightwing."

"Ooooo," X mocked, "big tough guy, with a new name... I'm shaking in my xenothium."

"You better hope I don't-"

"Please, enough of this bad talking," Starfire stepped in, holding Richard back as he almost lept forward starting another fight.

"Take it easy kid," X said still talking down to him but his tone had lightened up a little, "I'm still not interested in your precious city, or power, or fame, or money."

"Then what _are _you interested in so I can stop you from getting it?" Richard sneered though a clenched jaw.

X remained silent for a moment as he looked Starfire up and down as if soaking up as much detail of her in her beautiful dress as he could before reaching her emerald eyes that glistened in the moonlight showing true gratitude for saving her.

"You already have the only thing I want," X said looking back at Dick, "but know this... wherever you fail... _I _won't."

Dick felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end as a cold sweat began to crawl down it. His face went pale as he heard the robotic words echo through his mind. It was in this moment his worst fear had been realized. He didn't care about anything else. But losing the woman he loved because of his own mistakes and incompetence rattled his very soul.

Starfire looked from X to Dick back to X trying to figure out what they were talking about. She wasn't very good at picking up on these subtle hints and messages and in this moment it was infuriating to her.

"I wish to know what you mean, please..." She begged for clarification.

"That wasn't meant for you..." Dick whispered loudly. It was like fear has gripped his heart as he spoke, "but I heard it loud and clear."

Starfire looked at Richard with concern in her eyes. She's never seen him like this before and it was worried her more than the events that took place earlier that night. But before she could forget she needed answers...

"Then... Why did you..." She hesitated thinking she was asking questions out of order, "I suppose I must ask first... What happened?"

Red-X looked from Richard to Starfire and paused for a moment thinking about whether or not he should actually tell her what happened. After taking a minute to think it over he sighed and caved into her wishes as if he couldn't resist...

"You sure wanna know what happened tonight?" X said asking with caution.

Starfire nod her head begging for answers. Red-X knew she was strong but he didn't know how she might handle the news he had known for a small amount of time now...

"Fine..." He said in a defeated voice as he watched her fold her hands in front of her chest as if praying for the much needed clification...

"You're being hunted..."


	11. Internal Defeat

**A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry for the long wait. I struggled on this chapter so it might not be as good as I hoped. Just trying to get to where my ideas are is proving quite the challenge but we'll get there eventually! I hope you're all staying safe during these crazy times and I hope I am giving you something worth doing while we're stuck inside. As always drop a fav/follow and leave me a review with your thoughts, ideas, and let me know how i can improve! Enjoy!**

Starfire held a blank look on her face as she stared at the man who had just given her horrifying news. She couldn't figure out what disturbed her more... That she was just told by her rescuer that she was being hunted or that someone loathed her enough to want to cause her harm. She couldn't think of anyone that could have any reason to want her to suffer.

Richard saw the blank look on her face. Even though she wasn't showing it... he could sense the fear coming from her. This wasn't a common thing for her and it scared him just knowing she was this frightened.

"Stsr?" Richard said softly trying to ease of the silence that had fell over the room.

Starfire looked from X to Richard with her blank stare. She could see the worry in his eyes and it snapped her out of her trance.

"Apologies," she said softly, "I... I need a moment."

She walked towards the doorway she had come out of earlier where she had dropped her shoes to stop the battle between the two boys and picked them up without turning back around to face them.

Richard and X both watched her closely taking in every second of the moment that Starfire had requested. After a while Richard looked at X and grew angry once more.

"What do you mean _hunted__?" _He said with detest in his voice, "why? By who?"

"Listen kid," the robotic voice replied, "if you don't know that she's being tracked down by every able-bodied villain in Jump City right now, then you're the one I would be questioning right now."

Dick thought about that. He was right. He should have known. He should have at least heard rumors. How was this so sudden to him?

"But why...?" A soft and fragile voice broke the air between them from across the room, "what have I done to acquire such a fate?" Starfire sounded like she was fighting back her emotions.

"No one knows," X replied honestly, "the job was from an anonymous source with a massive bounty." He reached into his suit and pulled out a small disk. With the push of a button, a hologram projected out of it showing Starfire's face and reward of $500,000.

"Where did you get this?" Richard asked with the same detest in his voice.

Starfire turned around to see the hologram of her and walked towards them. As she approached, X looked at Richard and answered his question.

"Don't know where it came from," he responded, "I came home yesterday from doing whatever I want, like usual, and this was sitting on my bed." He looked back to Starfire who's eyes glistened like she was trying to contain her tears. "Who ever is after you is smart, wealthy, and mostly likely has unlimited resources. I can only assume these were given to anyone they thought capable of accomplishing such a job."

"But why did _you _get one?" Dick said with the anger growing steadily in his voice, "for all we know you're hunting her too."

"C'mon kid," X said defensively, "if I wanted that bounty, I'd already have it." He sounded like he had the upmost confidence as if he knew exactly how to beat them and take her for himself.

"No way," Richard shot back, "I don't buy it."

"Dick," Starfire said sternly, "I believe he is telling the truth. Why would he save me if he were trying to deceive us?"

Dick's eyes never left his enemy though he couldn't deny the logic behind Starfire's words. She was right. There was no reason for him to lie after doing everything he did this past evening.

"Fine," Richard said with frustration, "but I'm not letting my guard down again. If you try anything, I'll make sure you can never do _anything you want_ ever again."

"Oooooo. Big guy with big words," X taunted, "we'll see if you can back those words up some day."

Dick grit his teeth. He was getting really annoyed with the constant taunting from his foe. It reminded him of when he was Robin fighting Slade. The insults and bad mouthing never ended with him. Even as Nightwing they still continued and it was driving him crazy.

"I wish to go home," Starfire said to them both. She had her head down as she wrapped her arms around herself, "I... do not feel well."

Richard's eyes softened and his gaze settled on Starfire's expression. He couldn't imagine what was going through her head right now. This was a lot to take in even for him. What must it be like for the person this whole thing revolves around? Either way, Richard couldn't wait to get out of there as well. He had enough _fun_ for one date. He stepped towards Starfire and reached out to her before she stepped back from his arms silently avoiding his touch. It stopped him and his heart in their tracks.

"C'mon Star," He said softly, "let's get out of here."

"You might want to travel in numbers," X suggested, "like I said, it's most likely that every villain in Jump City is looking for you. No offense, but if they came after you in mass, I doubt you could hold them off."

"We'll take our chances," Dick spat back.

"No," Starfire immediately followed his words, "the Red X is right. We should increase our forces to ensure safe passage."

Richard heard the insistent urgency in her voice. It made him realize he was letting his frustration and jealousy cloud his judgement.

"You're right," he admit, "I'll call Cyborg. He can pick us up in the T-Ship."

"And paint a giant target on your back?" X respond insulting his intelligence, "use your brain, kid. A bounty like that probably has the best villains waiting on rooftops for the chance to shoot you down. Then what? She's probably the only one strong enough who could survive something like that. Even so... you think anyone could fight off even a low level villain after something like that?"

Dick narrowed his eyes at him as if trying to attack him with a stare. What else could they do then? This was starting to annoy him even more.

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Dick argued turning his body towards X in a defensive stance, "just sit here and wait for them to find us?" Richard's frustration could easily be heard in his voice.

Red X reached for his belt, forcing Richard to ready his staff for an attack. But to Richard's surprise Red X didn't draw a weapon but simply pushed a button on his belt and the entire building softly shook as the sounds of mahcinery and engines started wirring forcing Starfire to look up from her clouded thoughts.

Behind X, a platform rose to the rail with an extremely nice car sitting atop it. It looked a lot like a black Lamborghini however it had a giant red "X" painted on the hood along with some obvious modifications making it well equipped for anything... including combat.

Robin and Starfire both went wide-eyed at the sight of this immaculate car. They hadn't seen anything like it, yet something about it seemed familiar Richard...

X pulled keys from his belt next to the button he just pushed. He raised them to his shoulder and pointed them back behind him towards the vehicle. With a push of a button the car let out an attractive beeping as it unlocked.

"I'll drive," he said with a quirky tone as if he were showing off.

They all got in and the engine roared to life as Red X turned the key. As they took off down the road it was awkwardly quiet. The three of them didn't know what to say to each other. The entire situation seemed completely unheard of. Heroes getting saved by villain _AND _escorted home? What on earth was happening?

The only thing that seemed to ease the tension was the car itself. It was impressively fast. Much faster than an actual Lamborghini but X seemed to have complete control over where he was going with little worry about the speed of his car. It was now late at night leaving the roads more or less empty giving him plenty of room to use the horsepower he wanted.

Dick was in the passenger seat while Starfire sat in the back. She was visibly distraught as her arms still held herself like a comforting blanket. Dick couldn't help but feel like this was his fault. If he hadn't lashed out at her maybe she wouldn't have been captured in an ambush.

He shuffled around in his seat wriggling his jacket off before turning to the backseat and reaching his arms around Starfire's neck and drapping it around her.

Starfire looked up from her blind stare at the floor of the car to meet Richards gaze. In silence, she gave a tiny smile indicating she was grateful for the gesture but immediately went back into a blank stare at the floor as her mind raced faster than the car she was in.

Richard watched her carefully before he sighed and turned back to face forward. He pulled out his communicator to tell the other Titans about their situation but found he had no signal what-so-ever and it worried him.

"Don't bother," Red X said seeing Richard trying to contact his friends, "I have a signal jammer installed on this car." He sounded like he was well prepared for anything, "I also have one back at my lab. I try to stay off of _everyone's _map."

Dick didn't like that. But after everything that just happened he felt he had no choice but to trust the shady person driving.

"Don't even think about double crossing me," Dick threatened, "I won't let anything happen to her."

"Like you did tonight?" X said rubbing it in.

Dick bit his tongue. He wanted to say something back but nothing came to mind. After all X was right. He sighed and leaned back in his seat staring out the window. The reflection of car in the building windows looked like they were racing a shadow duplicate as the buildings passed by. Something about the way the car was built and how it looked seemed all to familiar to him.

"Where did you learn to do all this?" Dick asked softly. He was genuinely curious.

"You're not the only one with a good teacher, kid," X said as if putting a period at the end of the sentence and finishing the conversation.

The car engine roared as it flew through the streets unopposed.

At the Tower, the rest of the Titans were all in the living room patiently waiting for any news to surface on their friend's where abouts and situation. Beastboy was uneasy and nervous as he stared at the massive screen showing a blank map. He was sitting on the couch leaning forward with his elbows on his knees as his right foot continuously bounced up and down from the heel creating a constant tapping on the floor. Terra sat next to him also staring at the screen just as nervous. Raven stood behind Cyborg as he continuously tried to make contact with the other two after losing both signals in a specific location on the blank map.

"Oh come on! Pick up!" Cyborg said getting frustrated.

"Try them again," Raven urged trying to help however she could.

"Its no use. If they were gonna answer they would have by now," Cyborgs emotions were bouncing all over the place. He was getting worried.

"Then what are we doing waiting around for?!" Beastboy said angrily as he stood up from the couch. It was as if he just exploded from frustration, "let's go find them!"

His outburst caught Terra off guard and she jumped from his reaction. When she recovered she joined him in his outburst.

"We should split up," she suggested, "we'll go to the last place they were seen on the map and fan out from there." This kind of confidence was slowly growing with every day for Terra. She was quickly becoming a dependable ally for the Titans in any situation.

"That might be our only choice at this point," Cyborg said agreeing, "if we don't do something soon it might be too late."

"Everyone needs to _calm. Down._" Raven said sharply, "panicking isn't going to help. We don't know what happened or where they are. If we rush in head first without thinking we might end up in the same situation they are. Who will save them then?"

"We can figure out a plan on the way there," Cyborg said urgently as he pressed a button on his arm, "let's g-"

Cyborg was interrupted by the giant screen. Two blips on the map began blinking indicating his friends locations. To his surprise... they were right outside the Tower. Utter confusion came over his face...

They were all about to head to the garage where the T-Ship was firing up from Cyborg's signal when the map began to produce this image, stopping them dead where they stood. After a moment they heard the front door unlock and the massive doors slid open.

Starfire stood in the doorway holding her shoes in her right hand with her gorgeous dress tattered and roughed up underneath the jacket that Richard had put around her. Yet she still had her arms wrapped around herself as if she was still trying to nurture herself. Without a word she lift off the ground and hovered past everyone down the hallway towards her room.

Behind her was Dick. He had a look of defeat on his face as all the Titans stared at him begging for answers.

"Uh..." Beastboy began trying to break the tension, "rough date huh?" He chuckled nervously.

Richard looked up at Beastboy as if he was trying to burn a hole in Beastboy's forehead with his gaze.

"You don't know the half of it," Richard said with a heavy amount of irritation as he walked into the Tower relvealing the person standing behind him.

"Hey there, Titans," X said half jokingly. He stood up straight with his arms lazily crossed in front of his chest, "long time no see."


	12. A Rude Guest

**A/N: To everyone reading, THANK YOU! And I also wanna apologize for being so late with the update. I'm sure you all have seen the news with the craziness going on and I think you all can agree there have been more pressing matters to keep our attention on. But I'm still here and still writing when I can! So again thank you for sticking with me! As always drop a fav/follow and leave me a review and let me know what you think! Hope you enjoy!**

The Tower was eerily quiet. All eyes were locked on the two men standing near the doorway. The darkness of the night behind them gave a chilling vibe to the rest of the Titans who were eager to hear some kind of explanation. The silence of the room was suddenly broken when the one person with almost no filter blurted out what everyone wanted to say...

"Uh... What's going on?" Beastboy said with an eyebrow raised and his face lost in utter confusion.

Richard turned to face his former teammates with an expression screaming that he didn't want to talk about it.

"Isn't it obvious?" A robotic voice replied, "I saved your leader because your previous leader couldn't."

Richard grit his teeth. He wanted to lash out at the vigilante behind him but ended up biting his tongue to stop himself. After all, he knew in his heart it was the truth.

"But..." Beastboy started more confused then ever.

"Why?" Raven asked finishing for her boyfriend. She was easily sharing Beastboy's confusion.

It seemed as though everyone leaned in to hear the response from the man in the mask.

"Oh come on..." X respond sarcastically, "I gotta keep _some_ secrets to myself."

"Hold on a second..." Terra spoke up as if announcing her existence. She felt like she had been left in the dark and wanted clarification, "who is this?" She asked aggressively.

"His name is Red X," Cyborg respond filling her in, "back when Dick was still Robin, he used that suit and alias as a way to trick Slade into trusting him."

"But it backfired," Richard chimed in through his teeth.

"Slade saw through his plan and nearly got away," Cyborg continued, "afterwards, Robin locked the suit away until one day we caught this dude stealing xenothium to power the suit that was stolen right from under us."

"And we havent seen much of him since," Beastboy finished for him still confused.

Terra's face didn't look satisfied at all. She still had so many questions but she didn't want to press any further on the subject until things calmed down.

The Titans returned their gaze to Red X to seem him standing there with his arms crossed. Even though he had a mask on, they could easily tell he had a devilish smirk on underneath.

"Well?" His robotic voice announced still standing in the doorway, "are you gonna invite me in?"

The Titans all looked at each other as if not knowing what to do. They looked to Richard for an answer and waited patiently for some kind of direction.

Richard looked up at them with a defeated expression as if he had no choice but to allow it. But before he could say anything a soothing voice sounded from the hallway...

"Yes," Starfire said taking charge. She had changed out of her gorgeous dress and into her usual violet clothes with green gemstones, "I wish to know more about this... Bounty, which has been offered for my capture."

Red X uncrossed his arms and strolled in past Richard, walked right through the Titans, and flung himself on to the couch kicking his feet up on the coffee table. He was laying it on thick that he had no care in the world and was making himself comfortable.

"I've already told you everything I know," X repeated himself, "the only other information I can offer is who I assume also recieved a bounty token."

"Yes!" Starfire exclaimed as she float across the room to stand in front of her masked savior. She wanted to know as much as possible, "any information would be most helpful."

"Word is anyone with a good track record against you guys was most likely to have gotten one," the robotic voice explained, "so people like me, who have evaded you and even beaten you at times," he add for insult to injury, "and others who have left a lasting impression are most likely the most suspect to have gotten the offer."

"Ok... And that means...?" Beastboy said not knowing who he was referring to off the top of his head.

"Incase you can't figure it out like pea-brain over there," X insulted pointing his right thumb over his shoulder at the green hero, "prime candidates would be villains like, me, The Hive, Killer Moth, Johnny Rancid, Madam Rouge, and Slade."

Beastboy drew a look of embarrassment and rage over the insult hurled at him. Raven could see and feel this emotion radiating off him and grew angry. Seeing their "_guest_" openly insult her boyfriend made her skin crawl. She had to do everything in her power not to lash out at him.

The room went silent for a moment at the sound of the last name on the list provided. The name echoed through Richard's mind as the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. But to his knowledge from his recent encounters with his nemesis, Slade had no interest in the Titans. He was focused on... something else. Something Richard had failed to find out.

"Slade isn't coming for Starfire," he spoke up, "you can trust me on that."

"Who said anything about Slade coming after her himself?" X shot right back as if expecting that response.

Richard stood frozen in place. He didn't think about that. But who could Slade possibly send after her if not himself?

"I don't care _who _it is coming after Star," Cyborg said with force, "they ain't getting to her so long as the Titans got her back!"

"Yeah!" Beastboy said getting fired up with his best friend, "if anyone comes looking for trouble they gotta go through us!"

"Might be hard to take on an army with just the six of you," X said cutting down their optimism, "just because a select few recieved an offer doesn't mean anything. In the villain community, word travels fast. I wouldn't be surprised if every single one of them knew about this, and if they come after her in mass, they _would _go right through you."

"That's enough," Raven said angrily, "I won't let you sit in our home and insult us like you own the place." Raven's aura started to emit dark energy around her from her anger.

"Raven please," Starfire said softly, "we know not of the dangers we may face. It is important for us to learn as much as possible."

She sounded like Richard... At least... back when he was still Robin. Level headed. Confident. Strong willed. A true leader. The only difference was under that guise was a fragile soul terrified for the future. But only Raven could see that. Or rather... Only she could sense it. Her anger fade and the dark energy fade with it before nodding her head towards Starfire accepting her decision.

Red X laughed in the face of the embarrassment in the room, "I knew there was something special about you," he said looking up at the Tamaranian, "makes saving you worth it all-"

"But you will not treat my friends this way," Starfire cut him off with a stern voice, "you may be our guest but our guests do not say such things to us. Especially not to my dearest friends."

Her voice had an unshakeable sense of anger and frustration behind it like she was about to snap. However, she held her emotions in check keeping her mind focused on the task at hand. The Titans could see this and it only strengthened their loyalty and trust in the team and their leader.

The tension and awkward silence in the room was like watching an mental war breaking loose between the masked guest and the courageous alien. They stared each other down as if lightening was discharging from their eyes between them. X sat forward lifting his feet of the coffee table placing his elbows on his knees before responding in a calm and gentle tone.

"As you wish."

The Titans all looked at each other with a sense of utter confusion as to this reaction from Red X. Raven was trying extremely hard to sense what he was feeling in that moment but to her surprise she couldn't get a read on him. Like he had some kind of mental barrier surrounding him. She was left to speculate like the rest of the team but Richard knew exactly what it was and his anger began to rise within him.

"If you don't have anything useful to say," Richard spat as he crossed the room to stand next to Starfire. When he reached her side he beamed an attacking stare down at the man on the couch, "then you should go."

Red X shift his stare from the gorgeous girl to the man standing next to her as if in unity. It made him furious but he wasn't about start fighting everyone in the Tower.

He stood up raised his hands as he shrugged his shoulders and started a small rant, "hey, this is all speculation at this point. For all I know, no one wants to mess with her. Or... everyone wants a piece of the reward money. It's all a mystery to me." He started heading for the exit past the Titans, "the only thing I _do _know... Is that you better be prepared and expect anything. Or I'll be back to save her again." As he finished that sentence the doors rushed open and closed behind him.

"Man!" Beastboy said with aggression, "what an a-"

"Asinine imbicile," Raven interrupted with a grotesque tone behind her voice. She finished before Beastboy could fully speak his mind, "does he really think we will trust what he says? For all we know this is part of his plan to get the reward."

"I do not believe that is true," Starfire spouted at his defense, "the Red X had more than enough opportunities to turn me in for the reward but instead... he freed me and brought Dick and myself back home."

"I still don't trust him," Cyborg spoke up, "that dude has done nothing but look out for himself since the day we first saw him. He just all of a sudden became a hero? I don't buy it."

"Then why _did_ he do it?" Terra respond no longer able to keep quiet, "why would he even bother when he could have easily taken the reward when he had the chance?"

"You don't know him like we do," Richard replied, "if he cares about _anything _its himself."

"But-" Terra started before she was interrupted.

"Trust me Terra," Beastboy said still ripe with anger, "he's up to no good."

Terra felt like she was ganged up on at this point. No one would hear her out. Even though she's the outsider looking in with an open mind and had the most plausible explanation, the others wouldn't budge on their thoughts of him.

"AAAAHHHHGGG!" Terra yelled with frustration, "you're all driving me crazy! If what you're saying is true, then why is everyone here safe and sound when Star was obviously done for?!"

"Because he had a reason!" Richard yelled back, "people like him don't care about others! They only care about themself!"

Terra went silent after hearing the fiery passion come from Richard's voice. He knew something and all the Titans could see it. They all stared at him wondering what he meant...

Dick could sense the tension in the room all directed at him. He was beyond angry and decided to remove himself from the room.

"I'm going to go find out as much as I can," he declared as he head for the exit, "_DO NOT _go anywhere alone. _None _of you. Especially you Star," He said looking back at the beautiful woman as he stood in the doorway. She stared back at him with a confused and hurt look on her face. He paused for a long moment as if letting his eyes give a visual apology to her and speaking softly afterwards, "I'll find out as much as I can. Stay safe until I return." He turned and exit the Tower with the doors sliding shut behind him.

"Uh... I'm not the only one who thought that was weird... right?" Beastboy said as the Titans stood in the Tower completely dumbfounded by Dick's reaction.

Terra looked to Starfire and could see her face expressing a pain that could only be felt in the heart. She didn't know if Star knew the answer to her question but decided to ask anyways...

"Star," Terra said softly, "what happened between the three of you?"

Starfire was lost in thought and didn't even hear her.

"Star?" Terra repeat herself.

Starfire looked at Terra with the same look of pain on her face.

"I do not know..." She replied with a somber tone, "but I fear... I... May be losing Richard."


	13. Two Sides to Everyone

**A/N: I FINALLY figured out how to tie this in and I'm so excited to share it with you guys! I'm so sorry for the long wait. That was a brutal block for a minute there but I think I can start to get this story cooking again! As always drop a fav/follow/share and please leave a review to keep me in check! Thanks for waiting! Hope you enjoy!**

Darkness drown the room in a gloomy depression. The silence consumed the air with the taste of a somber melody so quiet you could hear your own heart beat to the sad song in the quiet room.

Starfire tossed and turned breaking the melody of sad silence with the rustling of her blankets as she lay awake with no chance of sleeping. She longed for the warm body of Richard laying next to her. She wanted to feel his bare chest with her hands as she drifted into an unconscious euphoria in his arms... Instead, she lay awake with her eyes irritated from the endless struggle to fight back her emotions. She didn't seem to care that someone had placed a bounty on her at the moment. All she seemed to care about was her desperate need for comfort from someone she loved dearly.

_What am I to do? _She asked herself.

Her mind flashed back to their dinner date. everything was perfect until she tried pressuring Dick to talk about his journey alone.

_Perhaps... it would have been best if I had not tried to help him..._ She opened her eyes to see the ticking hands of an analog clock next to her bed. The short hand pointed to right side of the clock while the long hand pointed straight up. She had been laying in bed for hours unable to quell her mind and soon the sun would be rising. This sent her into an even deeper state of sadness.

At the same time on the other side of the city the pitch black darkness of night made for a perfect cover thanks to the coming clouds of a possible storm. They crossed paths with the moon casting a blanket of greater darkness over the city every so often.

A tall and muscular man was running frantically from something down a dark alley. He had a shaded pale tint in his skin with jet black hair wearing a black shirt with the sleeves ripped off exposing his rounded muscular arms. His blue jeans and black boots only slowed him down but he was still athletic enough to move with purpose as he fled from his fears...

The man quickly made a left hand turn around the corner of the building that made up this alley, looking above him to the roof only to catch a glimpse of a shadow of whatever was following him jumping from the roof of one building to the next. He put his head down to see a motorcycle fit for a biker gang parked at the dead end of this alley. Hope shot through him as he smiled, breathing heavily as he continued sprinting.

Just before he got to his bike the shadow revealed itself landing in front of him with a silent thud followed by a swift spinning back kick landing in the soft unexpecting stomach of the man. The air in his lungs quickly vanished from the powerful bow to his gut forcing a silent whimper to escape past his lips through open jaw held by the face with a terrified look of shock. It stopped him dead in his tracks, stumbling backwards before falling on his backside.

He looked up from the ground as he clutched his stomach staring at the black shadow of a man with a fire in his eyes, "you're gonna pay for that!" He tried to scream as he caught his breath before jumping to his feet and charging blindly.

The dark shadow then threw a device from out of nowhere that broke into two separate devices joined by a long cable strong enough to tow a truck. The device was thrown with perfect aim allowing the cable to wrap around the feet the man joining them together as the two devices tightened around his ankles before locking in place sending him in a free fall to land on his face. The man fell into a sense of failure and lay on the ground in a defeated manner.

"Sorry, Rancid," The shadow said standing over him, "did I ruin your big plans?"

"I ain't telling you nothin," Jonny Rancid respond. Instantly folloing those words a sharp pain filled his scalp as the shadow reached down grabbed a fist full of his jet black hair forcing his chin to lift to dull the pain. His eyes then focused on a familiar face that was right up in his own.

"I think you'll have a change in heart," the voice was dark and sinister behind a V shaped mask covering only his eyes, "and if you tell me what I need to know I promise not to hurt you... Much." Even in his mask Rancid could see his enemies gaze narrow as if a demon were smirking behind the mask as it controlled the owners every action.

"I... I thought you were a good guy..." Rancid said fearing what could come next.

The shadow released his grip on his hair as if throwing his head into the pavement before standing up. The clouds casting a thick blanket of darkness began to break up slowly passing by the moon giving just enough light to reveal a dark suit bearing a blue eagle on the chest. Nightwing stood over Rancid with the most gruesome look on his face as he raised a foot over Rancid's head as if he were about to stomp on him.

"I am. But I'm _not_ going to lose her again to people like _you_," as he finished his foot came crashing down while the passing clouds once again gained strength enough to cover the moon casting a futher darkness on the city, almost as if shielding the moon from seeing what was coming next...

A few hours later the sun rose on a new day in jump city. As it gained distance in the sky the city began to wake as people went on with their lives.

The Titans gathered in the living room waiting for Starfire to lead them with the plan for the day but to their surprise she didn't appear. She was usually the first one up and about ready to start the day but for some reason her energy was absent from the Tower.

The rest of the Titans sat at the dinner table surrounded by a meal they hadn't eaten yet. Pancakes, eggs, bacon, waffles. They were scattered across the table on plates. Plenty to feed the the entire team. But no one seemed hungry at the moment.

"This ain't like her y'all," Cyborg said to the others with worry, "if this keeps up we're gonna end up losing her too."

"Well what are we supposed to do?" Beastboy shot back, "the only one who can fix this stormed out last night and hasn't even bothered to call in the past 2 months."

"I don't know, man," Cyborg respond, "it just seems like we can do... _something._"

"I'll talk to her," Raven said softly under her breath. She still wasn't the best at helping people with their emotions but she has gotten confident enough in her ability to communicate that she has been trying to help a lot more, "I can't promise I'll cheer her up but I think she will at least come out of her room..." As she finished, she stood up from the table and began to head for the hallway doors.

"While you do that, we'll try to get ahold of Dick," Beastboy said trying to help, "the least he can do is tell us what he's doing..." Beastboy finished his sentence with a sense of annoyance behind his words. Like this shouldn't even be an issue yet here they are dealing with it.

Raven looked back at the boys from the corner of her eyes after hearing Beastboy's tone while she entered the hallway. As the doors slid shut behind her she thought about what Beastboy was saying.

_Hasn't even bothered to call in the past 2 months..._ Had she completely overlooked what he truly felt when Richard first got home? She could have sworn that his absence and lack of communication didn't bother him or Cyborg at all... If that was the case... Why would he say that? What's more, was the tone behind his voice when she exit the room...

_T__he least he can do is tell us what he's doing..._

He almost seemed angry at his friend in that moment. It made her begin to question herself with the true intent of her boyfriend's emotions. Something she was never in doubt of. Not once. She was so lost in these thoughts that before she knew it, she looked up to find herself standing in front of Starfire's door...

_How long... How long have I been standing here?_ She pondered from losing her sense of time. She shook off her thoughts and refocused on the task at hand: Starfire.

She raised her right hand with her palm facing her and curled her index finger. Seperating it from the rest of her fingers and using the isolated knuckle as a blunt object, she tapped softly on the door.

"Star?" Raven whispered loudly, "are you ok?"

... Not so much as a rustling or a whimper in response.

"Star?" Raven said with strength behind her voice, "it's Raven." She felt stupid saying that. Of course it is but she was at a loss floor words at this point... "Can I come in?"

... Once again nothing but silence in return.

"Star?" Raven asked loudly as she began to worry. She opened the door and stepped inside quickly. She scanned the room slowly ensuring she didnt over look anything and as she did her heart slowly began to pound in her chest.

Panic.

Sheer horror fell on Raven. Something that is not only rare for her but also dangerous. The room she stepped into had no signs of Starfire anywhere. The bed was made. Her clothes still filled the closet. Her furniture was undisturbed. There was no sign of struggle or a fight of any kind but what scared Raven to the very core...

Starfire's communicator was _placed_ on the center of her bed as if someone meant to put it there.


	14. Leaderless

**A/N: Thank you for tuning in! I didn't intend for this chapter to end like this... but I think it's best to have it go this route. I hope it turns out well. Let me know what you think and drop your ideas/reviews. As always fav/follow/share this story and I'll see you in the next one! Hope you enjoy!**

Raven jumped into a dead sprint from Starfire's room. With each stride she felt like she wasn't going fast enough. Her heart was pounding in her chest faster than her legs could move and it made her dizzy. Her vision narrowed into a tunnel showing her only path in front of her to the living room where the others were waiting. It felt like dream. A dream where no matter how hard to tried to run you never could stay upright and always fell face first to the ground and struggled to get back to your feet. She couldn't afford to waste any precious time. For all she knew her bestfriend could be captured or worse.

She burst into the living area where the others whipped around to see her panting for air as she leaned on the doorframe supporting her weight while her left hand leaned on her knee as she struggled to tell them what was happening.

"Star!... Fire!..." She said in between gasps. She looked up with an expression of horror on her face, desperate to tell the others what she saw, "SHE'S GONE!"

The same panic that was on Raven's face now showed on the boy's faces as well. Before they could get up or speak the Tower lights started flashing red and the alarms began bellowing through the halls.

Cyborg jumped out of his chair and ran to the computer to see what the alarm was...

"Is it Star?!" Beastboy yelled following closely behind him.

"No... It's the Hive," Cyborg said expressing the disappointment everyone shared, "they're terrorizing the local mall."

"They can wait... We need to find Starfire first!" Raven said angry that this was happening now of all times.

"For all we know she could be there already," Cyborg shot back, "and if she isn't I bet they'll would know where she is!"

"Its like what X said," Beastboy add, "all the criminals in Jump City are after her. They gotta know _something."_

Raven couldn't argue their logic and tried to calm herself down, "fine! Let's go!" She raised her hands with dark orbs and the floor around the three of them turned black before swallowing all of them in darkness.

"Oooooo, don't mind if I do!" A familiar yet annoying voice said to the clerk of a diamond shop in the mall. A large four legged monster made of metal crawled across the shop to the glass showcase where the clerk stood. The clerk was wearing his suit tailored to perfection to show the professionalism of the shop he worked for. But he was powerless against the boy genius, "get outta here scuzzbrain!" Gizmo yelled at the clerk. The clerk then dropped what he was doing and ran out of the store as Gizmo smashed the glass of the showcase with the metal limbs protruding from his backpack holding him suspended in the air. He began giggling to himself as he took the precious gems, "this 'oughta get those nose pickers attention."

Screams could be heard in the distance behind Gizmo where the food court was. Mammoth was tearing through every restaurant eating whatever he felt like.

"Really Mammoth?" Seemore said disappointed with his arms crossed as he watched his friend lay waste to a Cinnabon, "they'll be here any second. Should you really be eating at a time like this?"

"Shut up. I'm hungry." Mammoth growled back, paying him no attention.

"Then how about a knuckle sandwich?!" Cyborg shout as he sent a fist out of nowhere across Mammoth's still full mouth. sending him flying over the counter crashing to tables that collapsed on impact.

"Gizmo!" Seemore said shouting across the mall, "its show time!" He then turned the lens of his single eye into a balloon that started to carry him away into the air of the spacious mall.

"Showtime?" Beastboy said confused, "what are you talking about?!"

"Wouldn't you like to know, you slug eating fart farm!" Gizmo insulted as he approached from behind shooting small missiles from his pack towards the group of Titans.

A shield of dark energy rose from the floor in front of Beastboy as the missiles landed kicking up and and smoke with each explosion.

During the commotion Mammoth had picked up a table and threw it like a massive dart at Cyborg catching him off guard and sending him smashing into the counter of the Cinnabon he had just jumped over. Then using the smoke from the missiles as cover, Mammoth ran to regroup with his comrades.

Seemore float down behind Gizmo and Mammoth before switching his lens back to normal only to see something wasn't right.

"Wait..." He said switching to a thermal lens to make absolutely sure but just as he had seen before there were only three Titans facing them, "where is she?!"

"What do you mean where is she?!" Gizmo yelled in anger.

"I mean she's not with them numbskull!" Seemore said fighting verbally with the spider-like robot attached to Gizmo.

"Well check again captain sees-nothing! She's gotta be here!" Gizmo argued only getting more angry.

"They're after Star!" Cyborg shout to the team. As he ran past his friends, Raven dropped her shield to let him pass through and attack.

_Then they don't know where she is. _She thought to herself. This instantly became a waste of time to her.

"Look out!" Mammoth shouted over his arguing friends and throwing them aside. He then slammed against Cyborg locking fists in a battle of brute strength.

As the two of them struggled for control over their battle while groaning and gritting their teeth Cyborg couldn't keep quiet anymore...

"Where's Starfire?!" He screamed before letting go with his right fist and slamming into the clinched jaw of his opponent.

Mammoth stumbled back and looked up and see a green lion jumping off the shoulders of the robotic man that just struck him. Beastboy soared through the air letting out a loud roar but before he reached Mammoth he was struck in the side by a pink gelatine-like substance that was heavy and dense, sending him off course and landing a ways away from his intended target. He tried morphing into a bird to fly away but that substance cemented him to the ground like a thick bungee cord.

Seemore looked confident after firing the substance from his pink lens and chuckled, "looks like there's no point in _sticking around. _Let's blow this joint guys!"

As they all turned and began to make their escape Raven appeared from the darkness in front of them. Towering over them with dark energy surrounding her like a poisonous fog and black tendrils peaking out from under her robe. When she opened her eyes they were dark red with a omnious look of pure evil...

"You can leave... when I _SAY _you can leave!" Raven was all business. Her appearance struck mortal fear in the hearts of her foes. It was not a look she wanted to have. Nor did she enjoy taking this form.

The three members of the hive looked on in horror and decided not to take another step.

"Where. Is. Starfire?" Raven said slowly and clearly making her seriousness as clear as possible.

"We don't know!" Gizmo said quickly waving his arms frantically as tears littered his eyes like the others around him.

"Yeah!" Seemore add, "we were hoping she was with you!"

"That bounty is way too much to turn down!" Mammoth finished for them.

"Then tell me _someone_ who might know where she is!" Raven's voice grew dark and demonic.

The three of them shrieked in horror unable to speak or move as they started balling.

"KYD!!!!" Gizmo screamed in desperation.

Kyd Wykkd appeared from no where and looked at Raven but to her surprise he wasn't frightened at all. In fact... he smiled at her appearance. This froze Raven in her tracks and her eyes slowly faded back to their normal amethyst color. Kyd then turned towards his friends and touched the shoulders of the outer members of his team and they all vanished into the shadows he created.

Back at The Hive headquarters; the three terrified members hit the floor with a thud. Their horror still remained as they lay on the floor shaking, even though they were no longer in any danger.

"Well slap my hog," Billy Numerous said from 50 different versions of himself surrounding the petrified Hive members, "none of y'all look lile the smokin alien girl worth 500,000 big ones!"

Kyd Wykkd looked at one particular version of Billy Numerous and shook his head in disappointment.

"How can you always tell its me?" Billy said as all the duplicates of himself returned to the one that Kyd was looking at.

Back at the mall Cyborg walked over to Raven who slowly returned to her normal state.

"Don't worry. We'll find her." He said trying to comfort her.

Raven lowered her chin hiding under her hood.

"Um HELLO?!" Beastboy shouted to his friends. His backside was elevated in the air with his knees and chest stuck together and his arms twisted in an uncomfortable position as the rubber cement still had him pinned to the floor, "a little help?!" He said frustrated.

As the day droned on, storm clouds began to move in. Thunder cracked as bright flashes among the clouds lit up the sky full of dark cotton. Drops began falling creating a soothing melody of somber ambience.

Inside Titans Tower Beastboy was on the couch still picking remains of the pick gelatine off his body as Cyborg typed away on the computer trying to find _anything _about the bounty on Star. If it had been collected. If there was a rendezvous point. _Anything _at all. But he came up empty handed. Every thing he thought of was a dead end and it was starting to weigh on him...

"Agghhh! How does every criminal in Jump City know about this but we can't find a single clue on it?!" Cyborg yelled in frustration.

Beastboy started to respond on impulse as he picked at his hair, "we could always look for Red-"

"Don't even joke about that," Cyborg spat interrupting him. He looked back at the green shapeshifter on the couch, "why would _he_ help _us?" _Cyborg finished angrily.

"Alright dude, sorry," Beastboy said trying to defuse the tension. He waited for a second as the sound of rain clashing with the glass windows filled the air around them before speaking again... "Have you told Dick yet?"

Cyborg ignored him and turned his head away as if it was an obvious answer. No way he was about to tell one of his closest friends that they had no idea where his girlfriend was at a time like this. Instead he pondered other questions he had about the situation...

"She left her communicator here," Cyborg said turning back to the computer diving deep into thought, "I'm sure of it. There's no signs of struggle. No signs of forced entry. Nothing. Why would she do that?"

"Maybe... She doesn't want to be found?" Beastboy said carefully, trying not to make his best friend angry again.

A bright flash outside the window lit up the sky for a brief moment followed by a loud clap of thunder forcing silence between the two.

Cyborg sat in the silence for a second allowing an open mind for all possibilities. After a long moment he decided on one theory that made the most sense... "Or maybe she doesn't want us caught in the middle of something we can't handle..."

Beastboy's ears dropped. Starfire was the kind of girl who would put herself in harms way just so her friends would be safe. As much as he wished it wasn't true he couldn't deny that this was a strong possibility. He looked away towards the hall that led to the front door and started to worry his girlfriend might be most affected by Star's absence among the three of them. He wanted to comfort her but he knew it was best to give her some space and time to herself...

Raven sat in the doorway of the Tower just barely out of range of the attacking rainfall. She looked out into the storm hoping beyond hope that her bestfriend might soon show up.

Her eyes widened and she gasped as she heard the footsteps of someone approaching. Her hopes then suddenly rose as she saw a figure emerging from one of the entries Cyborg had built for only personal friends and guests to use to get to the island. But it didn't last and her heart sank when she saw Terra running towards her.

"Raven!" Terra shouted as she ran through the rain, "I heard what happened! Is Starfire back yet?! Is everyone ok?!" Terra had just gotten out of school and was desperate to know the full extent of what was going on.

Raven remained silent. She didn't want to speak of it anymore. Instead she lowered her head and fought back her tears.

Terra knew exactly what this meant and it shattered her heart. She didn't know what to do. Her best friends were in a surreal amount of emotional pain and one of them was missing. Terra sat down next to Raven and leaned into her wrapping her right arm around her.

Raven didn't feel comforted though. In fact... It hurt her more. It reminded her of Starfire. When she would comfort her. As she began to weep she leaned back into Terra and they listened to the somber music of the thunder dancing to the melody of the rain.

As the storm passed it began to slow down and the once strong melody of falling rain had become a slow heart beat as the tail end of the storm passed over.

Night had fallen and the moon was just a sliver in the sky not providing much light as the clouds passed by now and then. A trickle of water flowed over the half destroyed building onto the tiles of the floor inside. The dark hallways still lit by the dim lights on the walls at ankle level...

"Are you sure about this?" The robotic voice of X said softly, "you know this could go terribly wrong at any time..." Under his mask he narrowed his eyes. He didn't like what he was hearing but it might be the best plan they had to end this whole ordeal.

"Yes," a calm and soothing voice respond, "I do not fear for my safety. I fear for the safety of my friends. So if I must face this alone to ensure their well being... I will."


	15. Out of Character

**A/N: Hey everyone! Hope you're all doing well. This week's chapter is a bit... well... Dark. I hope it's not too dark but it's important to the plot of the story and the development I have planned for the characters. Anyways, I hope you enjoy! Keep leaving me reviews as they help keep me motivated to continue writing. I love hearing what you guys have to say or think about these stories!**

The air in the Tower felt heavy. It weighed with an intense feeling of uneasy tension. Night had fallen and the team sat around the dinner table in living area still leaderless.

Cyborg prepped a dinner for his teammates though no one said a word to each other. Raven sat quietly with her eyes closed and her hands in her lap with her head lowered. Beastboy sat next to her with his elbows on the table letting his forearms dangle lazily over the edge with his right crossed over the left. He quietly studied her carefully. He worried about her. Wondering what he can do to help her emotional state at the moment. No matter what scenario he ran through his mind he only came to the conclusion he would only make her feel worse. He sighed and faced forward hanging his head as low as Raven's.

Terra sat across the table from the two. She sat upright with her heel kicking up and down tapping on the floor with nervous energy. Her eyes would slowly switch between staring at the Titans sitting across from her while her mind raced with questions. _Where is Starfire? Why aren't we looking for her? What's the plan?_ She was about to speak but was silenced as Cyborg placed a large bowl of pasta in the center of the table.

"Eat up y'all," he said softly. His voice seemed as heavy as the air in the room, "we're gonna need our energy if we're gonna get her back."

Terra saw the sincere concern on Cyborgs face. Like he was worried they were in over their heads with this situation. He began using a pasta utensil to place a portion of the meal on the plates in front of his teammates.

Beastboy and Cyborg started quietly eating their dishes in front of them while Raven continued to sit in silence with her hands in the same place they had been the entire time she sat at the table.

Terra stared at the plate in front of her. The steam rose from her plate like a sad soul extending its existence into the next life. It put her in a trance. She couldn't seem to bring herself to eat...

"How...?" She whispered softly. It was so quiet the words barely brushed over her lips. However, the room so silent, save of the additional clinking of silverware, that the boys could still hear her and their gaze shifted towards Terra, "how?" She repeated a little louder. She began to tremble as she slammed her fists on the table making her plate jump in between her fists with a loud clang, "HOW COULD YOU JUST BE EATING AT A TIME LIKE THIS?!" She screamed. She clenched her jaw and welded her eyes shut fighting to control her emotions, "Starfire is out there somewhere and she needs us! WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING?!"

Cyborg and Beastboy watched her as if unphased by this reaction. It's not like they weren't thinking the same exact thing. In fact, it was the only thing they could think about. They both turned back to their meals, finished what they had in their mouths and placed their forks next to their plates. Before they could speak Terra opened her eyes ripe with emotion and turned to them.

"WE SHOULD BE OUT THERE LOOKING FOR HER!!!" She screamed.

Beasboy rasied his hands in a gesture to calm her down but before he could respond a just as emotional voice answered Terra.

"And _where _do you suppose we start?" Raven shot back aggressively, "you don't think we haven't been trying to figure something out? That we haven't been exhausting ourselves trying to come up with _any _kind of idea of where she might be?" She opened her eyes and stared at Terra across from her. Her eyes held an intense amount of sinister aggression as she she continued, "if you have _any _idea where she might be then by all means share with us..." Raven never raised her voice over what you would consider a casual conversation but something about the way she spoke... It seemed like she was screaming louder than Terra.

Terra's jaw dropped as she found herself at a loss for words. Her tongue was tied in multiple knots as she fumbled for a response. Unable to answer Raven's request, she closed her mouth and continued to tremble with her hands still clenched in fists, buried in the table next to her plate.

Beastboy and Cyborg now had a look of shock on their faces as they watched the encounter unfold in front of them. Their eyes darted back and forth between the two girls. It looked as if they both were shooting lasers from their eyes at each other creating a small explosion in the center between them.

After a long moment of silence so quiet you could hear your own heart beating in your chest, Terra relaxed and bowed her head in defeat before silently replying to her closest friend, "I... Don't know."

"None of us do," Raven respond also easing the intensity of her voice, "but Cyborg is right," she looked down at her plate of pasta and picked up the fork next to it before looking back up at Terra, "if we're going to find her we need all of our energy."

With that, she picked up a piece of the food on her plate and with the grace of trained royalty, she raised the fork to her mouth and began chewing. She almost looked like she was _forcing _herself to eat. As if she couldn't keep it down or had absolutely no appetite but she swallowed one bite at a time regardless.

Terra looked up to see Raven with her eyes closed as she struggled to force her meal into her system. It inspired her slightly. She picked up her own fork and began to follow her lead no matter how hard it might be to eat at the moment.

Terra thought about her outburst and began to realize just how ignorant she must have sounded. She felt terrible about her actions and now felt a pit in her stomach, along with the unwanted food, making it feel even worse. She was about to apologize in the hopes that admitting her unacceptable behavoir would quell the uncomfortable feeling but before she could, the computer screen across the living room lit up the area with the image of Nightwing staring at the team.

"Titans, I got a lead on who's coming for Star," he said firmly, "sending you coordinates."

All the Titans communicators beeped in unison as they recieved his message.

Nightwing focused more on his own communicator as he didn't see the one person he wanted to see on the screen, "where's Starfire?" His eyes narrowed under his mask and his voice seemed aggravated as the words left his lips.

The team looked at each other wondering who was going to be the one to tell him and explain... When no one said anything right away, Beastboy decided to take this one...

"Uh... Well... She's..." He stammered looking for the right words.

"Trying to find some kind of lead in your old office," Cyborg cut in, looking at Beastboy trying to get the team to play along, "ever since you put her in charge, she's been just as stubborn as you were when you led the team."

Nightwing stared at Cyborg intensely. He wasn't buying it. Something about her not being in the room with the others didn't sit right with him, "get here as soon as possible," his voice grew more aggressive as he spoke, "we need to face this and find out what's going on. Nightwing out."

"Wait-" Cyborg shouted but it was too late. The connection had ended and now the team stood awkwardly in the room looking at each other with puzzled looks on their faces.

"He knows," Raven said with certainty. Her voice carried a hint of concern that this could make Richard do something foolish.

"We better get down there as fast as we can," Cyborg said with all the seriousness he could muster.

They all began to head down the hall towards the hanger where the T-Ship was docked. Terra followed closely behind Cyborg as Raven and Beastboy trailed them. They all jumped in the ship as the engines began to whir and roar to life. As the team strapped in putting their headsets on, they did their final checks before take off and Terra spoke over the intercom to Cyborg...

"What were you going to ask him?" She asked out of sheer curiosity.

Cyborg remained silent as he thought about what the answer to his question could have been. It rattled him to his core. He felt like he might not even know one of his best friends anymore. Something about him was different. The question Cyborg wanted to ask was simple... But he was worried he might get an answer he didn't like...

"I was gonna ask him where he got this info," he paused for a second trying to fight off the horrid thoughts to the second part of his question, "and how..."

The screen went blank as Nightwing pressed the disconnect button on his communicator. He grit his teeth and his blood boiled in his veins. His gut was telling him something was seriously wrong and it terrified him to the point his anger was about to explode out of him... If it hadn't already.

He stood in a dimly lit underground room with small tanks and cages all around him. Each cage had its own lamp as a heat source for the living things inside. Every one held some kind of insect or unidentifiable creature that had obviously undergone extensive experiments.

One cage in the middle of the room was smashed with a body laying on top of it, just barely conscious moaning in pain. He had wings on his back and had a face like an insect. Though, you could hardly tell now. What used to be two giant eyes like that of a fly were just bruised and swollen lumps of flesh with blood oozing from every orifice of his face.

Robin began walking towards the exit and as he did, his feet marched past a small blonde teenage girl, unconscious on the floor near the wall. Next to her was the body of a man. His head was a giant four legged spider and he sat with his back against the wall hunched forward. His arms lay lifeless in his lap with his eight eyes closed. About shoulder height on the wall behind him was a massive crater that his body had created from the force of an unstoppable man hellbent on some kind of rouge vigilante witch hunt.

Dick continued to clench his jaw as he walked up the stairs to the entrance to this basement of an experimental lab. Leaving behind his three victims to fend for themselves with no remorse in his heart. As he reached the top of the stairs he mumbled a fake sense of gratitude through his clenched teeth...

"Thanks for the tip..."


	16. A Misunderstanding

**A/N: Welcome back everyone! Sorry for a couple of days delay on this weeks chapter but I polished it up and made it as best as I could for you guys. Its gonna be fun to write the next chapter! As always leave a review, fav/follow and let me know how I'm doing. Thanks for reading! Enjoy!**

A cold breeze drifted over gentle waves of the ocean. The bright moonlight gave the stars little room to breathe in the night sky. it seemed like the world had stopped spinning for a moment in the quiet calmness of the evening.

Wooden walkways that extend far off the concrete towards the depths of the ocean, where boats of all different shapes and sizes could dock for business, were the only things clashing with the ease of the gentle waves.

The shadows of the warehouses next to the docks were still illuminated slightly by the brightness of the moon making it difficult for the smallest mouse to conceal its presence completely. There in the shadows stood a masked figure waiting patiently... but anxious.

He was worried about this plan he had agreed to go along with. Every ounce of his being was telling him not to go through with it but something about the intoxicating beauty of the woman who purposed this plan subdued his better judgment and it scared him slightly. He never felt this way before. The feeling of not being in complete control of himself. It annoyed him, yet he enjoyed it. It intrigued him. But the growing annoyance in his gut forced him to once again reiterate his concerns for what they were about to do.

"I still don't like this plan," the masked figure said softly with his robotic voice. It didn't seem like he was addressing anyone. At first glance he looked completely alone.

"Do not be troubled," an even softer voice respond, "this is the only way in which to discover who is behind this."

Red X looked down to his left at a wooden crate amongst tons of other wooden crates. It looked as if it were just another piece of cargo to be loaded in the next shipment of the busy docks in the morning.

"I am truly grateful for your assistance," the crate whispered.

X looked back at the ground where his focus had been earlier. Her voice was captivating. It gripped his mind while tugging at the strings attached to his heart like a musician plucking a harp. He couldn't tell if that was the reason why he was doing this or if that was why he was anxious... or both.

"I still don't like it," he repeat himself, "we don't know what we're up against."

Starfire lay in wait in the crate hiding her presence to pull off the sting she had planned with X. She was to play the role of a captured bounty and X was the victorious hunter. If all went well, they'd discover who was behind the attacks and who was controlling the attackers like puppets. And if they were lucky... put an end to it.

X raised his right wrist and pulled the sleeve of his suit slightly up his arm revealing a digital watch, small and compact, displaying the time. It was 1:55 AM.

"Five more minutes," he said softly. They had only been waiting for ten minutes but his sense of time seemed to have vanished as each second seemed like hours, "what if worse comes to worse?" He asked a little louder with a sense of worry, "do you have a back-up plan?"

Starfire sat in silence. She didn't. This was an all-in gamble with everything on the line. Knowing fully well she might lose everything. But for some reason she was ok with that. If it meant her friends would be safe from harm it made her believe it was worth it.

The silence from the crate only made X worry more. On the surface he seemed calm and steady but inside he was ready to burst with anxiety. An unfamiliar feeling for him... and that might be why he was willing to go through with it. The fear excited him.

He looked back at his watch and the digital numbers turned from 1:59 to 2:00 while he watched and as if on que, the waters of the calm ocean began to rumble as something emerged from the depths.

Towards the end of one of the docks, a platform rose out of the water with a single person standing on top of it. A tall cylindrical bubble encased the person on the platform to keep them dry and safe from the sea water. When the platform reached the same level as the dock, the bubble encasing the individual separated at the top and quickly descend in uniform around them to their feet. The individual stepped forward on to the dock and the platform slowly retreat back into the deaths from where is rose. Then... the person waited quieltly as if expecting someone.

"It's time," X said under his breath. He voice a sense of nervous energy, but he seemed to be enjoying the rush of adrenaline.

Nightwing and the Titans were racing to the docks. His new bike was well equipped with all his latest gear and had the looks to prove it. Meanwhile, the Titans were packed into the T-Ship flying just above him.

"So what's our plan?" Cyborg asked trying to get an idea of what they were walking into.

"Find out who wants Star and take them out," Nightwing respond in a dark tone.

"Yeah..." Beastboy said in a sarcastic voice, "I'm pretty sure Cyborg meant a plan as in how to do that."

"This is the rendezvous location for the bounty," Nightwing respond over their comm link, "when we get to the bottom of whomever is behind this we'll be able to get an idea of what we're up against."

The Titans had a bad feeling about this.. Not because they were diving in head first without a plan and with no idea what they were getting into but because something about Dick seemed different. They had seen this side of him before but this... this was a new level.

"They'll see us coming a mile away," Cyborg said realizing it may have been a bad idea to take the T-Ship, "what if they don't show?"

"I got that covered," Nightwing respond instantly. As he said that a red dot on the map of the T-Ship's GPS began blinking with a new location not too far from the other one specified earlier, "land here. I'll head to the rendezvous point and we'll regroup there."

"It'll take us a minute to catch up from there," Cyborg said disapproving.

"Just do it. Get here as soon as you can." Nightwing blew off his friends concerns like they meant nothing to him. But that didn't stop Cyborg from pushing back.

"Hey man, _at least __wait_ for us before you just barge in with no backup," he kept his voice down but his tone expressed a great amount of frustration.

"No time," Nightwing instantly replied once again ignoring the concern, "every second counts at this point. Nightwing out." As he finished the comm link went dead and he accelerated on his bike leaving the T-Ship hovering above in the dust.

"Something isn't right," Raven said with a sense of urgency, "it's not like him to go in blind."

"You're tellin' me," Cyborg respond, "its like he's a whole different person."

"He knows Star isn't with us," Raven replied, "he has to."

"Yeah," Cyborg replied, "he's different but not stupid. He wouldn't fall for what I told him."

"Wait... So then that's why he's going in alone?" Beastboy joined in the conversation trying to piece it all together.

"Can you blame him?" Terra shot at the team with a little anger, "I would want to do the same thing."

The team went silent after hearing Terra. She was right. Back when Nightwing was still Robin he would literally chase her across the galaxy to make sure she was safe. He stopped her fake wedding. He tracked her through the stars when she ran away during her transformation. He even went as far as attacking her just to save her life from Slade's probs. He did things he would never do to save _all _of them. But Starfire brought out a different person every time.

The T-Ship's engines slowly grew quiet as it hovered over the location Nightwing had given them. Once it landed, the team jumped out and grouped up. Terra took her goggles from around her neck and placed them over her eyes and lifted her hands as her eyes began to glow yellow. The Earth beneath the team rumbled softly before lifting them all in the air and took off with intense speed towards their originally intended target.

"We should be there in a few minutes," Cyborg said looking down at his arm displaying a small map, "let's hope Nightwing can hold out long enough for us to get there."

At the dock, Red X began approaching the end of the long wooden path extending into the ocean to greet the figure standing at the end. They wore a long smooth robe. in a dark velvet color that gave an overwhelming sense of elegance and royalty with an oversized hood draped over their face. Before long he stood a few paces away and crossed his arms.

"I take it you're the one who will be paying me?" His robotic voice echoed to the stranger.

The stranger stood silent but picked their head up just enough to see who was speaking to them from under their hood without revealing their face.

X patiently waited for a response but to his surprise he received none.

"What's the matter? Upset that I'm not willing to hand over the girl without seeing some compensation first?" He taunted.

The hooded figure turned their head ever so slightly as if looking over his shoulder behind him. Before X had time to turn and look at what the figure had turned its gaze to, a hand grabbed his right shoulder and spun him around.

X now stared at the very vicious face of Nightwing with a fist cooked back ready to go flying straight forward at the mask bearing a red x as if his face was saying _X marks the spot._

"Consider _this_ your payment!" Nightwing's fist snapped forward like a missile fired from a fighter jet with twice the force and landed a devastating blow right in between the eyes of his target sending tumbling backwards before catching himself in a kneeling position just shy of the feet of the hooded stranger.

X looked up to see the face of the person standing at the end of the dock but even from his lowered position the oversized hood still concealed their face. He could only see the smooth skin and soft lips in the shadow of the hood. He looked back at Nightwing who took a steady fighting stance waiting for X to pull some kind of shady trick or attack.

"Kid, you have _no idea_ what you are doing," he said in a insulting tone.

"I know I'm stopping you from selling Star to someone who can't possibly have good intentions for her," he spat back with angst, "I should've known you were all talk. Everything you said was all a lie. You only care about yourself!"

X narrowed his eyes under his mask and rose to a similar fighting stance Nightwing had, "you know, for once... You're wrong." As he finished that sentence two blades in the shape of x's grew from the back of his fists and he lunged forward with his right arm across his chest before swinging it across his body at his target.

Nightwing began performing acrobatic back flips one after another, dodging each strike. He knew on this narrow dock with Red X's close proximity weapons, he was at a disadvantage and needed to get to an area with open space so he had more viable options to fight back.

As Nightwing performed each back flip, X was exchanging arms swinging across his body. Left, right, left, right. Trying to catch up to his opponent and slash across his midsection. Before he knew it they were both standing on the concrete of the dock's bay. Tons of open room for Nightwing to fight back with an number of options. X knew this and stopped his attacks to rethink he strategy.

"Where is she?!" Nightwing yelled with a serious amount of anger and desperation in his voice.

"If I told you... That would defeat the purpose of being here," his voice never seemed like he was angry. Always seemed like he was trying to give Nightwing the run around. Taunting him with the one weakness he had.

"You mean collecting a massive reward and getting filthy rich on dirty money?" Nightwing shot trying to insult him. But he knew it was pointless. X didn't care where the money came from. He was just a greedy thief.

"You got it backwards kid," he instantly respond, "but you wouldn't understand anyways." X withdrew his blades and reached to his belt where he pulled out fist fulls of small shurikens like the one he used to slice through the pistol of the driver he had thwarted from kidnapping Starfire earlier. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and flung them out like a slingshot sending a barrage of small sharp x shaped blades flying like little helicopters at Nightwing.

Nightwing dove to his left summersaulting to a new position where he returned fire with a blade of his own in the shape of a black bird. Just before it landed on the enemy standing in front of him, the intended target vanished into thin air like a blur and quickly reappeared right behind Nightwing.

Nightwing was expecting this. He through his hips into a spin, wildly throwing his left arm in a back fist but he only struck air as Red X ducked. This wild back fist had left him wide open.

X used all of his body weight to extend his fist upward in an uppercut that landed perfectly on the underside of Nightwing's chin with a loud pop.

This sent his head snapping back with his hair flowing shortly after, cracking like a whip from the movement of his head. He stumbled back before regaining his balance but Red X was already on top of him from lunging his entire body forward with a spinning back kick from his left leg planting it deep in his chest sending Nightwing flying across the concrete rolling to a slow stop. Nightwing looked up from where he lay and wiped the blood slowly seeping from the corner of his mouth.

"Still too slow, kid," he continued to taunt. He raised a hand with a red x glowing bright in his palm, "no hard feelings," he said sarcastically. Then the bright glow discharged a massive x at his enemy where he lay. The intention was to bind him so he couldn't move and they could carry out the rest of the plan so Nightwing would finally understand what was going on.

But before the x reached its target a loud screech echoed from behind Nightwing with a bright blue light following the sound hitting the x and causing a loud explosion in a cloud of smoke concealing Nightwing from his opponent.

As the smoke cleared Nightwing was on his feet standing in front of his former teammates. Cyborg had is sonic cannon raised with a small amount of smoke like steam drifting in the breeze from the barrel of his cannon he had just fired at the projectile X had shot.

"Booyah," he said softly.

"Hey there Titans," X said calmly with a chuckle in response, "I was wondering when the rest of you would show up."

"Sorry to rain on your parade," Beastboy mocked.

"You aren't getting away," Raven followed up, "give us Starfire back and we won't hurt you." Her voice has stern and serious. She meant business.

But unknown to them... Red X also meant business in a similar if not identical way.

"If you know what's good for all of you _and _her... You'll get out of my way," under his mask Red X now had a look of extreme commitment. He had a mission here and he was going to complete it.

He took another fighting stance but before he attacked a presence behind him took him by surprise.

"If you snot lickers know whats good for _all _of you... you'll hand us the dumb red-head and get lost!" Gizmo shouted with confidence.

X turned around and both he and the Titans now had a look panic and shock. They now faced the members of the Hive, Jonny Rancid, Kitten and Fang. From what it looked like... they had all teamed up but not all of them wanted a piece of the reward.

Some wanted revenge on one person in particular...


	17. Chaos

**A/N: Welcome back! Let me say thank you all so much for reading. Seriously. Seeing your comments and reviews makes it all worth it. All I have to say is buckle up for this one. It took a long time to go through every scene of this battle and this is my first time jumping around so much I had to put breakers in between to make it more clear and understandable. So if you see some errors and miatakes please excuse them. lol you're gonna be dying to know what happens next... I know I am and I'm the one writing it! As always leave a fav/follow and drop a review and let me know how I can improve! Hope you enjoy!**

Complete silence. Even more quiet than than the calm before the storm. The soft trance of rolling waves merely feet away from the team was drown out completely by the sheer intensity in the air. It seemed as though everyone could hear a small ringing in their ears. The sound you hear when you're in a dark room on a dead quiet night. You know there is no sound but your mind is tricked into creating the non-existant pitch to ensure your sense of hearing is still functioning.

Fang stood behind Kitten on the right side of the Hive, staring across the small concrete battlefield at Nightwing with a gruesome look on their faces. They were furious.

The same look of anger and resentment dawned on Jonny Rancid's face as well. He stood on the left side of the Hive more near the docks and the rolling water of the ocean. They had one objective here and together... they just might achieve it.

The blood lust emanating from their emotions rattled even Raven. She could sense something familiar in them and it brought nothing but dark memories to her. She followed their disgusted gaze to the man standing next to her. To her surprise, Nightwing had the same look on his face staring right back at them. She couldn't decide which one scared her more... The look from the villains... or the same look from one of her closest friends. Either way she felt a deep sense of unshakable doom that was about to unfold in front of them.

As the silence dragged on one person grew tired of it and decided to break the tension with his notorious sarcasm.

"Well then," X said in and upbeat voice, "I can't help but feel like I missed the invitation to the villain reunion," he turned his back to the Titans facing the small team of villains with his arms crossed, "what are you doing here?"

The villains grew more angry as though they were being mocked by the vigilante.

"Save it, ya scuz-licker!" Gizmo shouted as he began to hover from the small jets that popped out of his back pack, "for all we know you're working with them!" He said pointing behind X towards the Titans, "don't think I forgot how you totally trashed my ride during the race for Robin's cruddy briefcase!"

"I don't like owing favors," X said raising his arms to a small shrug, "it's nothing personal," he lowered his arms and glared from under his mask, "I also don't like when people get in between me and what I want," his tone changed and sounded menacing.

"I don't give a rat's ass about what you want!" Rancid yelled in anger. His face was painted black and blue from an obvious beating he took not too long ago. One of his eyes was nearly swollen shit but he didn't feel the remaining pain at the moment. He was pumped so full of adrenaline he was ready to risk even more pain, "I just want that little punk!" He shouted again pointing at the man with the blue eagle on his chest.

The Titans all looked at their friend with a look of worry and confusion.

"Uh... What's he talking about?" Beastboy asked with a hand raised to his mouth quietly passing the message to his girlfriend.

Raven looked back at him with a deep look of concern. Her heart knew the answer but she refused to believe it.

"Daddy is in the hospital because of you!" Kitten screamed in her annoying high pitch voice, "you'll be lucky to end up in the bed next to him, Robby-poo!" Her voice grew dark and raspy as she raised a large rifle looking weapon from behind her pink dress and raised it at the Titans.

The Titan's jaws instantly hit the floor in astonishment. They looked at each other and began questioning everything they knew. During their stupor they all looked back at their former leader. Before they knew it, Nightwing had sprang into action leaping high in the air drawing his collapsible staff mid-flight on his way towards the girl with her weapon raised.

She fired the large weapon at her flying target but instead of lasers or bullets being fired from the barrel it was darts. The same darts that her father, Killer Moth, would use to tranquilize his prey to experiment on.

The weapon was hard for her to control as the gun fired countless darts like a rapid fire machine gun. Each shot she fired missed her target following closely on his trail towards her. The look of rage on kittens face turned to panic as she watched the long metal staff inching closer to her. She let go of the trigger and turned to her right bracing for impact and heard the sound of the staff striking something hard between them. She looked back at where her enemy was approaching from and saw Fang's long spider-like legs crisscrossed in front of her wrapping around her body like a shield with the metal staff pinched in the crease of his legs.

She looked up at Nightwing's face and her terror grew. His face looked like something she had never seen. Like looking into the jaws of a vicious animal wanting to maul its prey. The voice that followed rattled her even more...

"The Robin you knew is dead," He said through clenched teeth. With a loud cry of anger he withdrew his staff while crouching into a spinning leg sweep with his right leg, landing hard on Kitten's shins sending her falling face first to the ground.

Fang then saw his chance and placed his long legs on the ground in front of Kitten laying on the ground and sent his body flying forward like a child on a swing set with both legs extended into a dropkick.

Nightwing just got back to his feet when the dropkick landed in his chest sending him flying into a back flip where he landed on his feet in a wide stance sliding to a stop with his right hand on the ground in front of him for stability and his staff in his left hand behind him in a position to strike. It was as if he was expecting that attack and rolled with it to lessen the damage.

"Attack pattern Delta!" Gizmo yelled to his team and they took off in all directions towards the other Titans.

The Titans all took off as well dashing towards their enemies running right past Red X as if he didn't exist.

Cyborg took on Mammoth. Raven faced Kyd Wykkyd while Beastboy's target was Billy Numerous. Leaving Terra with Seemore.

"Looks like you guys got this handled," Red X said enjoying the show, "but I've got business to attend to." He turned and began heading back to the mysterious stranger standing on the dock before he was cut off by Gizmo.

"I don't think so fart-breath!" Gizmo yelled with confidence. His jets retracted back into his backpack and were replaced with for metallic arms much like Fang's legs.

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" X respond with a more serious and angry voice, "I hate it when people get in my way!" With that, he drew his blades from the back of his fist and lunged at the mechanical legs hoisting up the boy genius.

\--

With the Hive now out of the way, Rancid pulled out his own weapon. A small black pistol in the shape of what could only be described as a dark lightening bolt and opened fire with a barrage of red lasers at Nightwing.

Nightwing dove to his right avoiding the initial barrage only to find his feet quickly struck with the web shot from Fang's mouth to where he ending up standing. The barrage of lasers then followed and he began spinning his staff with tremendous speed blocking every laser he could while he was cemented in place.

Fang never approached Nightwing and waited patiently next to Kitten. He knew he didn't stand a chance against Nightwing so he simply acted as support and defense for his girlfriend.

Rancid's weapon began to over heat and needed to cool down before he could fire again leaving Nightwing a small window of time before Kitten got back to her feet and raised her rifle at him. He thought quick and drew two small devices from his belt. One was a smoke bomb that he detonated first giving him a large amount of cover to hide from his enemies. The other was an ice bomb that he threw at the web his feet were trapped in. It froze instantly and became as fragile as glass on impact. He raised his staff and brought it down as if using it to impale the ground at his feet shattering the ice and freeing him.

As soon as the smoke screen went up Kitten had began firing blindly into the massive cloud hoping the volume of fire would strike her target. After a few moments of firing wildly she ceased fire and waited for the smoke to clear...

\--

While that fight went on, Cyborg and Mammoth were charging at each other at full speed. Mammoth threw a massive right haymaker that Cyborg ducked under and countered with a right upper cut that sent Mammoth flying straight up in the air. He followed it immediately with his left arm detaching from his body with jet propelled rockets flying quickly at his target in mid-air.

Incapable of moving, the giant suspended in air was struck on the jaw with the flying fist. Sending him tumbling head over heels before landing on his stomach with a loud thud. The anger rose in Mammoth and he jumped to his feet bending at the knees and waist slamming his fingers into the concrete breaking the surface and pulling a massive chunk of it from its place over his head. He hurled it as hard as he could with all his strength at the one armed Cyborg who lifted his right arm and discharged this one as well with rockets at the large object thrown at him.

His arm made contact with the massive boulder of concrete and shattered it to pieces kicking dust and debris everywhere. But this move played right into Mammoths hand. Mammoth dashed through the small smoke screen tackling Cyborg and taking him by complete surprise before landing on top of him. Mammoth began raining down punches on Cyborgs jaw who was armless with no way to defend himself.

Mammoth began laughing as the taste triumphant victory began to cross his lips before he heard Cyborg yell in frustration.

"Get. OFF!!!" He yelled while a powerful blast landed on his attacker.

Mammoth found himself flying back into the sky once more as Cyborgs' chest opened up and fired an incredibly strong sonic blast into his chest taking catching him off guard.

Cyborg's arms then flew back to him reconnecting and he rubbed his jaw before looking back at his opponent regaining his stance. Cyborg motioned his neck left and right popping his joints as he prepared for the next spar.

\--

Meanwhile, Beastboy faced Billy numerous. He waited patiently for his opponents first move knowing fully well he would multiply and take the upper hand.

Just as expected, Numerous duplicated into 2 then 4 then 8 and began dashing towards Beastboy. Thinking quickly, Beastboy morphed into an octopus and each arm shot out at the 8 clones of Numerous wrapping them up tightly.

At first Numerous was shocked by the speed of his opponent's reaction. He was a bit smarter and stronger then he remembered. But Billy smiled and thought out loud so his foe could hear him.

"I hope you're flexible!" The clones then began duplicating rapidly increasing his forces ten-fold as he giggle with glee from multiple mouths.

Beastboy's arms began to stretch thin as his eyes began to water in pain. He had no choice but to release his enemies and return to his normal form. His arm felt like noodles stretched to their limits and he looked at them as if they were.

"Man!" He yelled in pain, "I'm gonna have to start taking yoga classes." He said sarcastically. Just as he finished that sentence one of the clones jumped on his back as the others formed a wide circle around him.

He immediately morphed into a bull bucking wildly to shake off his enemy on his back.

"Yeeeeehaaaaawww!" Billy yelled on the back of Beastboy, "Ride 'em cowboy!"

"This takes me back to the rodeo days!" One of the clones shouted as the others cheered him on.

Beastboy saw he was outmatched in this form and decided to change things up. He transformed into a common household cat falling to the floor in between Numerous' feet before turning around and jumping up latching onto his right inner thigh digging his sharp claws deep into the sensitive skin.

"YEOOOOOW!!!" Numerous screamed in pain as began flailing around, "get it off! Get it off!" He yelled in desperation. The tables had turned. Now Beastboy was desperately trying not to be bucked off.

The rest of the clones all began diverging on the one struggling with the small cat. They swarmed him in massive numbers of about 20 clones literally dog piling the small cat.

In all the chaos Beastboy managed to slip away as a small fly dodging in and out of the clones, unnoticed. He gained quite a bit of distance from the crowd before be started flying at them with as much speed as possible before morphing into a massive 20 foot anaconda wrapping himself around the crowd with all his momentum. Now all he had to do was squeeze. And as he did, the clones began to wince in pain. Duplicating wouldn't help them now. The power of this huge snake was stronger than his ability to make more of himself.

\--

Above that battle was Terra. She hovered on a rock facing down Seemore who was floating with a massive eye above him like a hot air ballon.

"Catch me if you can!" Seemore yelled with a smile on his face. His eye then let out air like a ballon flying through a party after someone had failed to tie a knot in it allowing the air to escape from the entrance.

His body whipped around wildly as his movement became impossible to predict and Terra could do nothing but flow him slowly in the general direction he was headed.

As the eye grew smaller and slowly returned to its normal size on his head, he landed on top of one of the warehouses next to the battle. He turned the knob on the right side of his helmet and his eye turned green and began to glow before it started firing off small lasers rapidly.

Terra gasped and her face turned to shock as she saw these projectiles flying towards her with intense speed. She immediately jumped off her platform and turned it forward using it as a shield as she raised a large piece of concrete beneath her as a second platform to stand on.

Seemore saw her fall back under the first rock she stood on and redirected his aim down at her new position and began firing wildly while laughing. He thought he had her on the run.

But Terra smiled and saw her chance. This was Seemore's weakness. He could only focus on one thing at a time and got tunnel vision easily seeing as how he only had one eye to work with.

As she began tracing the ground in a serpentine pattern dodging every laser thrown at her, she threw a yellow glowing fist forward and sent the massive boulder she jumped off of at her opponent who had clearly taken his attention off of it.

Terra then stopped in her tracks, confusing Seemore who stopped firing out of curiosity.

"Should always keep your eye on the rock!" Terra yelled confidently.

"Huh?" He said even more confused. Seemore looked up but it was too late. The boulder was already right on top of him. He yelled in horror as it slammed against him taking him for a ride before landing on top of him pinning him to the roof of the warehouse he stood on.

\--

In a separate aerial battle, Raven found herself struggling with an unfamiliar enemy. Kyd Wykkyd was hard to follow. He could levitate, teleport, and hide his presence. Hovering in the air, Raven tried to end it quickly by surrounding her target in her dark energy.

Kyd allowed himself to be over taken by the dark energy surrounding him but he simply smiled at Raven as he did earlier at the mall. He then coated himself in his own energy and vanished into his own darkness.

Raven gasped in shock. That has never happened to her before. No one has ever escaped her dark energy the way he did just now. Whats worse... she couldn't sense him. He completely vanished from her. She felt this fight may be harder than she had hoped.

What scared her more was a small tap on her shoulder from behind. A dark chill raced down Raven's spine as she whipped around to see Kyd standing there still smiling. She distanced herself from him and raised her hands with dark orbs as her eye's began glowing white.

"Azarath, metrion, zinthos!" She exclaimed. Her commands were followed by a claw of dark energy rising from the ground underneath Kyd. It wrapped around him gripping tightly. She hopped that if surrounding him with dark energy wouldn't work maybe a solid form of it would have a different result but she doubt it.

Kyd seemed to hold no distress on his face as he allowed her to grip him with all her strength. In fact... his smile never left his face. Raven felt like he was toying with her and it irritated her.

"Who... _What _are you?" Raven asked as she maintained her focus.

Kyd's gleaming red eyes focused on her glowing white eyes and without moving his mouth Raven could hear him in her head.

_"Someone who understands."_ The voice was soft and gentle. It seemed like the voice of a honor student in high school. Focused and determined, yet compassionate and welcoming.

Raven was shocked and the glow in her eyes faded. Her focus had broken and the dark energy holding onto Kyd slowly fade away.

_Telepathy? _Raven asked herself.

She had never seen this before. She herself was incapable of this ability. She could enter the mind of others and communicate but not like this. Not as a main source of communication.

_"We're not so different," _the voice in her head continued, _"I was also not born of this world but I chose a different path... Much like you did."_

Raven was frozen in the air. The two just stared at each other not knowing what to do as the battle raged on below.

\--

The smoke screen Nightwing had dropped began to fade as a gentle breeze carried it away. Kitten watched closely as a drop of sweat rolled down her temple with Fang standing at her side.

Rancid also waited carefully for what came next. He stood near the edge of the cement where the water of the ocean splashed against it but he wasn't near enough to worry about falling. Until Nightwing jumped out of the smoke high into the air towards Rancid, throwing three circular discs at the ground trapping him between the blasts and the edge of the cement.

Rancid had no choice but to jump back towards the ocean to avoid the explosions. He barrel rolled towards the edge keeping himself from falling. But that was exactly what Nightwing had planned.

As Rancid got back to his feet, his opponent landed in a somersault popping up to his feet, holding his staff like a baseball bat swinging it lefthanded striking Rancid in the stomach sending him off his feet into a ten foot drop of the waters below. He had one less enemy to face now...

\--

Near the dock where the hooded stranger looked on in amusement, Red X and Gizmo battled on.

X slashed straight through the metallic legs holding up Gizmo and it took him by complete surprise. He didn't think his legs could be cut down like butter but he thought quickly and the jets in his backpack deployed before losing balance taking off in a spiral around X.

Red X followed him closely even though Gizmo was flying around with intense speed. It got harder though as holograms of Gizmo began to appear also flying around him. The numbers continued to grow and before long X had lost track of the real Gizmo.

All the holograms in unison began taunting him, "you can't hit me! You can't hit me!"

"Man, you're annoying," X said in frustration. He reached into his belt and pulled put a small red orb and tossed it into the air above him before ducking and covering himself.

The red orb grew in size and began to glow as it started beeping. As it reached its peak in the air it suspended itself in the air as the beeping grew faster before detonating. It sent a massive electric shock wave through the air wiping out all of clones but the real Gizmo had disappeared and managed to escape the blast.

Red X then looked back at his intended mission. The person in the hood had stepped back on to the platform that had previously descend into the ocean earlier. His eyes went wide as he realized their window of opportunity was about to disappear. Leaving him with no choice...

"Starfire!" He yelled back to the crate next to the warehouse, "now! They're getting away!"

All the eyes of everyone in battle stopped in place and shifted to Red X but then sharply turned to the sound of an explosion of green as a wooden crate on the side of the warehouse explode, casting chunks of wood in every direction possible.

Starfire took off like a missile for the hooded stranger standing on the platform. Her eyes glowed green and her face was fierce with anger. She flew past everyone with a speed no one had ever seen before. Even X was shocked by how fast she was moving. She bolted past everyone in the blink of an eye as if she couldn't control herself. Just as she was about to reach her target the hood flew back off the stranger revealing the smooth skin of a female face complemented by long silver hair and an eye patch covering her left eye.

From under her cloak she drew a small weapon like a pistol with thick fishing line attached to the top and she fired it at Starfire who was right on top of her at this point. The weapon sent a long metal coil at the Tamaranian wrapping around her body taking Starfire by complete surprise. As soon as it made a few wraps around her body the weapon whirred with power and an unbelievable amount of electricity discharged from it lighting up the area brighter than the moonlight as Starfire was jolted with an overwhelming amount of voltage.

Starfire was suspended in place with her head tilted up towards the stars in sky. Her mouth was open wide as she tried to scream in pain yet no sound could leave her lips.

Everyone watched in horror as the amount of power being forced into her body lit up the area around them like a constant strobe light. For any normal person... they clearly wouldn't survive.

When the sound of sparking electricity finally died down, Starfire's glowing eyes shut and her body went limp, falling into the arms of the silver haired beauty standing on the platform as smoke rose from the coils around her victim's body.

The woman grew a dark smile and began to laugh maniacally as she looked up at the surprised and terrified look on all the Titans...


	18. The Sting

**A/N: Hey everyone welcome back! Big thanks to everyone reading and an even bigger thanks to everyone leaving reviews. I read them constantly and they keep me so motivated! So thank you! Also... Sorry in advance. lol Gonna keep you guys in suspense for one more week but this chapter is important for context in the following chapters. I hope you don't mind, but thanks again for reading! Don't forget to fav/follow/review and let me know how I'm doing! Hope you like it!**

A settling storm passes over the half destroyed structure of what used to be a laboratory. The sound of soft rain drops falling from a half exposed roof to the tile floors of the lab played tones like an orchestral harp. Soothing the air and ridding the area of the choas of the previous storm.

In the depths of this building a young woman both brave and strong found herself in a situation she was not familiar with. She was facing an enemy she didn't know and all her loved ones were definitely going to be caught in the crossfire as collateral damage. It was something she had always feared but never expected to become a terrifying reality.

"You sure about this?" Red X robotic voice echoed through the empty halls, "you know this could go terribly wrong at any time... right?"

"Yes," Starfire's calm and soothing voice respond, "I do not fear for my safety. I fear for the safety of my friends. So if I must face this alone to ensure their well being... I will."

Red X stared at the young woman. His admiration for her bravery intensified. Yet... a great sense of jealousy swept through him. He never had anyone care about him the way she cared about her friends. It stung his heart. He knew that the one she was _most_ worried about was the romantic rival of his.

"Hmm..." He said as he pondered her purposed plan of arranging a sting to find her foe. He thought about how this could benefit him while also protecting Starfire in the process... nothing seemed to line up in a favorable way no matter how he pieced it together, "bad idea. I don't like it."

Starfire sat on the bed she had once woke up in after she had been attacked on her date with Grayson. Her hands and arms were folded in her lap as she slouched her shoulders over her body with her legs lazily crossed over the edge of the soft mattress.

"Please," she said softly with closed eyes, "I beg of you... Help me."

X had never seen this side of Starfire before. It almost made him feel special. Like he was getting to know her on a deeper level. If anything... helping her might help him win her over in the long run.

He let out a soft sigh and dropped his head with his arms crossed in front of him while he leaned against the wall of the room. The same room he had brought her to before... only this time, she came of her own free will with this important favor to ask of him.

"Fine," he said as he stood up from the wall, taking a few steps towards the beautiful alien sitting on his bed. He stopped a few feet short of her, looking down at her, "but if we're gonna do this... we do it _my_ way," he said with force.

"But-" Starfire began to argue as she lift her head to make eye contact.

"No buts," X cut her off, "remember... _You _came to _me _for help. Either you let me call the shots... or you're on your own."

Starfire looked back down at her hands in her lap and dove into a deep internal thought process. She began to question her decision to trust someone she barely knew... much less a vigilante whose main purpose was self gratification. Her hands gripped each other tighter as her heart started to pick up the pace with her growing nerves.

"I..." Starfire hesitated, "I... Understand," she knew she didn't have anything to argue or bargain with. She was asking a stranger for a free favor that could possibly get him hurt or killed. If anything... _she _was the one who shouldn't be trusted.

"Good," the robotic voice replied with a more relaxed tone, "besides... if we can avoid you getting hurt then everyone wins right?"

Starfire's gaze shot back up at the tall, dark, figure standing in front of her. Her jaw slightly dropped as she was not expecting him to say that.

"Listen..." X continued, "I'll set up the exchange. You'll pretend to be my prisoner but you will be out of sight and hidden like camouflage. I'll take care of everything. Find out who is after you, why, and if possible, catch the one responsible."

"Please!" Starfire began to protest, "allow me to assist you!"

"Not a chance," X replied, "first of all, you are the one thing they need in order to _win. _Second, we don't know who they are and how powerful they might be. And lastly, I work better alone."

Starfire grew angry at that last comment, "you mean you will be the only one who is injured if things are to go wrong!" For some reason Starfire felt like he was being selfish in trying to handle the entire encounter by himself she stood up nearly getting in his face, "unacceptable! I must help you! This is not your fight yet I am the one asking you for assistance!"

"Isn't the whole point of asking me for help, instead of your friends, to avoid getting any of them hurt?" X sounded more serious like he saw straight through her, "why not just ask them for help?" He leaned towards her so now they _were _face to face.

Starfire stepped back after hearing his words and seeing his actions. Now _she _felt like the selfish one. It left her confused... Why_ did_ she come to him if not for that EXACT reason? She looked down from his face to the floor at her right side and clenched her teeth as she searched for an answer. Before she could find one Red X continued...

"If you're using me to protect your friends, then might as well protect yourself as well," he finished his flawless argument before continuing, "speaking of your friends..." He stood up straight once more, "they're bound to show up to try to intervene." Starfire looked back up to meet his gaze, "your friends aren't about to let you go without a fight. They're smart and diligent. They'll have us figured out before long."

Starfire grew more concerned. She knew he was right. She left her communicator at the Tower so she couldn't be followed but it was only a matter of time before they figured out something else and tracked her down. They loved her as much as she loved them and that kind of love made it very hard to hide, let alone run away.

"You're friends _will _be there..." X repeat himself with confidence, "and when they show up, you still stay out of sight and hidden. If you come out too soon we could lose our target."

"But they are my friends," Starfire said softly, "I cannot just do nothing..."

"That's _exactly _what you need to do," X respond, "the second you show yourself, one of two things will happen. One: the target figures out were up to something and flees. Or two: they attack everyone in an ambush and take you prisoner by force."

"How do you know this?" Starfire asked nearly shocked from his intelligence. She was genuinely curious how he could know any of this.

"I don't," the casual nonchalant response took Starfire by surprise, "I'm just using the two most extreme scenarios _I _would do based on how prepared I am," he lifted his arms out to his sides as if weighing two options in each hand like a scale, looking back and forth from each hand, "if I'm not prepared I'd retreat. If I am prepared... I'd have a massive attack force at my command," he then motoined his head to the gap in between his hands, "everything in between can be dealt with if I'm prepared for the two most extreme possibilities."

Starfire felt small. She felt like her leadership was no match for his simplistic yet incredible train of thought. He truly did think everything through. He reminded her of Richard back when he was Robin. Always had a plan. Always expecting anything and everything. They were very similar. Almost as if they were brothers.

She caught herself staring at him with a sense of nostalgia before she shook it off accepting his plan.

"Very well," she said softly, "but please allow my help if needed in an emergency." She stepped forward placing an open palm over her heart, "I will not stand by if I know my friends are in danger!"

X glared at her under his mask. He didn't like that she was willing to let him be expendable while protecting her friends... but he couldn't blame her. He didn't know what that was like. To have friends you would risk your life for and they would do the same in return.

"I'll tell you what..." He said with a sense of frustration, "if they decide to retreat and I can't get to them... I'll tell you. Then you can go after them yourself."

"What if you or my friends are in danger?" Starfire shot back trying to push her luck.

"You have to remain hidden at_ all _costs," X sounded even more aggravated. This was something he would not budge on. But not for the reasons Starfire thought. He wanted to protect her. He wanted her out of harms way. He just didn't want her taken from him. Or at least... taken from his sight. But her last sentence stuck in his mind for a moment... _what if YOU or my friends are in danger? _The single word that changed his mind, rest within that sentence. She was now also concerned for him as well. He lowered his head and softly spoke, "if worse comes to worse, I'll call for you." He sounded defeated as he finished that sentence.

Starfire could hear the defeat in his voice. She could tell something about this unsettled him but she felt a bit more comfortable with the idea that she could help when asked. She smiled and stood up straight putting her hands over her heart, closing her eyes and lowering her head towards him in a tiny bow...

"I thank you. You are most appreciated." She said with the most sincere and heart felt gratitude.

X saw the intense posture of thanks with her beautiful face emanating her soul's truest form of gratitude and he couldn't help himself. Under his mask he blushed before turning away from the gorgeous girl in embarrassment and softly respond to her over his shoulder...

"Don't mention it," as he finished, he began heading for the door.

Starfire looked back up from her pose and with the same smile on her face before she began following her new comrade towards the door to embark on this secret mission of hers. She felt a sense of comfort. Much like the feeling she had when he saved her from her previous attacker. She knew it. Her instincts were right. She could trust him.

The scent of pine wood that had been chopped and processed now filled her nose. She sat on top of a think pile of twisted hay as an insulator and protective packaging for whatever was supposed to go in the crate she now hid in. She sat with her legs compressed into her chest and her arms wrapped around them while her chin rest atop her knees. In the complete darkness of the crate, she waited with no idea what to expect at this point. She was deep in thought of what might happen before her trance was broken by the muffled voice of someone standing outside...

"I still don't like this plan," X said softly to the crate.

They were at the docks waiting for their target to arrive and begin the sting they had planned.

"Do not be troubled," Starfire respond from the crate fully trusting they could emerge from this with a victory.

"Its time," the muffled voice said from the outside of the box.

Starfire went silent and put all her effort into her sense of hearing to get an idea of how everything was going.

_"Consider THIS your payment!" _

Starfire gasped before quickly covering her mouth to silence herself. She knew exactly who that was and it shot her worries to maximum. She never doubted X when he said they would show up but she didn't think they'd find them so quickly.

She heard them banter back and forth before an explosion caused her more worry before she heard a soft "Booyah" in the distance. She knew all of her friends had arrived and things were quickly falling apart.

More banter.

Then she heard familiar voices knowing fully well they were not friendly. This worried her but not nearly as much as one of the statements made by the unfriendly voices...

_"Daddy's in the hospital because of you!"_

Even with that horrifying statement nothing prepared her for the next statement from someone she loved more than anything...

_"The Robin you knew is dead."_

Starfire's eyes went wide as she continued to cover her mouth to stop herself from making a sound. She gripped her knees closer to her chest wrapping her arms tighter around them trying to keep to the plan that X had told her.

_You must remain hidden at all costs._

She tried to drown everything out at this point. Just begging for X to call out to her so she could help her friends and put an end to this. After sitting in this crate for what felt like eons, as she suppressed her emotions as much as she possibly could, she finally heard it...

_"Starfire! Now! They're getting away!"_

Starfire's eyes changed with an ominous green glow. It was like the glow had a slight fog of the same color slowly drifting from her eyes. It had a sinister yet empowering look to them.

She unleashed a devastating amount of power shattering the box from the inside like a nuclear bomb's detonation. Her fists glowed with the same green color of her eyes and the same tinted fog was rolling off of them. Something was different about her. She was all business with an overwhelming mixture of emotions surging through her.

She propelled forward to see her target on a platform in the waters as if retreating into the ocean and she began hurling towards them with insane velocity. She herself had never thought of a time she could fly so fast.

In fact her surprise of her own speed is what caught her off guard as she reached her target much faster than expected. Before she could react, the hooded figure had thrown her hood back revealing a flawless smooth face with soft lips half hiding an evil smile while her left eye stood behind an eye patch as she dawned a strange weapon from beneath her robes. Starfire recognized this face. It was the same face that offered her lipstick in the bathroom at the restaurant...

Starfire was then halted mid flight by a metal coil wrapped around her body followed by the most excruciating pain she had ever felt. Her entire body tensed up to their complete limit. Her head tilted back as her eyes welled up with tears only to be dried instantly by the sparks radiating up and down her body. Her mouth was clenched in an open position as she tried to scream in pain but she couldn't even manage to breathe let alone speak. She was held suspended in air for only a few moments but to her... it felt like an eternity.

When the pain finally stopped, Starfire felt weak and exhausted. She had no control over it. Her eyes shut and she fell through the air unconcious. Before she drift off completely she heard one voice that she instantly recognized, It echoed long and loud for an extended time within her mind ...

"STARFIRE!!!!"


	19. A New Enemy

**A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for reading! This chapter gets pretty hectic but I hope it's to your liking. If there are any concerns with vocabulary used please let me know! I don't mind editing previous chapters but I do want to stress the importance of growing up in this season. As always drop a fav/follow and leave me a review if you have any ideas and let me know how I'm doing! Thanks again!**

_STARFIRE!!!!_

The sound of Nightwing's voice echoed across the gentle waves of the ocean. His voice only met with the evil cackle of her attackers laugh. This laugh, that over powered his cry, came from the beauty of a woman with flawless smooth skin and long silver hair. A laugh that only tarnished her beauty revealing a dark and disgusting soul.

Under her robe she was wearing skin tight black spandex pants showing a flawless figure that rivaled her perfect skin. Small light weight armor covered her vitals and weak spots like her knees, elbows, and chest but didn't restrict her movement in the slightest. She looked like a well experienced fighter willing to do whatever it takes to win.

The rest of the Titans were frozen stiff as they watched the lifeless body of their leader fall into the hands of someone they had never seen before.

_What just happened? Is Starfire... Ok? She couldn't be... She can't be..._

The number of questions pulsing through their minds left them in a weakened state. As the possibility of the worst outcome continued to resurface in their thoughts.

As the evil laughing continued, Nightwing no longer held any sense of humanity in his heart. He saw the face of Starfire's attacker and his blood began to boil within him.

"ROSE!!!!" Nightwing let out a yell as if he was about to butcher the woman holding the love of his life. His scream could have struck fear into the heart of the most savage monster. He seemed to know this woman and from the sound of his voice... he was hell bent on making her suffer.

He explode forward in a sprint to the long dock but he wasn't the only one. Red X had already started making his move as well. Already at the dock, he had a good ten step lead ahead of him. they were half way up the dock when Gizmo came out of hiding, hovering over the ocean next to the dock. The jets popping out of the sides of his backpack kept him suspended in air while a long arm with a claw held Rancid who was ready for a fight.

"Chew on this ya losers!" He said with a nasty grin.

A large rocket appeared from the top of his backpack and shot straight ahead of where the two young men were sprinting. Red X stopped in his tracks seeing the rocket but Richard didn't even acknowledge Gizmo's existence allowing him to gain on X. He had tunnel vision and was only concerned with one thing. Or rather... One person.

With little to no time to react, X grabbed Richard by the back of his collar as he passed and pulled back with all his strength stopping Nightwing cold. The Rocket then landed just inches from where Nightwing would have been if he had continued running freely. With a quick flash followed by an ear shattering boom, the explosion completely annihilated the dock in a huge cloud of smoke and wooden debris, sending the two masked fighters flying back to the cement platform of the bay with a rough landing.

Gizmo then threw Rancid like a beach ball at Nightwing. Nightwing couldn't react in time, and Rancid landed on top of him pinning him to the ground as he started dropping fists into the face of his masked enemy.

"Sorry Dick," the silver haired woman taunted, "I'd love to catch up but it looks like you're busy and I have a bounty to collect." As she finished her sentence, the platform she stood on began to decend into the ocean as the protective bubble started rise around her and her victim connecting at the top above them.

"No!" Cyborg shout as he abandon his fight with Mammoth. But before he could do anything Mammoth put him in a full Nelson head lock stopping his movement.

"Where do you think you're goin' tin man!" Mammoth insulted.

"Let me go!" Cyborg yelled frantically as he struggled.

\--

Beastboy also dropped everything and began making a dash for Starfire. But as soon as he released his grip he morphed into a cheetah at full sprint only to get completely overwhelmed by Billy's clones dog piling him once again.

"Hold it right there, whiskers!" One of his clones exclaimed with a taste of victory.

\--

Terra had turned around on her floating rock to see the horror unfolding before her. As she was about to make a move, an explosion behind her stopped her and drew her attention.

Seemore had shot a massive red laser at the rock that had him pinned to the roof and it detonated like a bomb freeing him... Now he stood on the roof with a glowing dark red eye that took aim at Terra.

"Don't move," Seemore said angrily.

\--

Raven gasped as she began to fly as fast as she could to save Starfire but her advance was cut off as Kyd Wykkyd appeared in front of her out of thin air. It brought her to a halt as he kept putting himself in her path.

"Get out of way!" Raven yelled with desperation.

_"Don't," _the telepath said in her mind. He no longer smiled and his face held a kind of sympathy as if he might feel sorry for her, _"facing them alone will only end badly for you."_

"Them?" Raven asked confused. She looked around to see her friends were all held up as well and had no chance of getting to Starfire either. As she looked back to Kyd her only response from him was a small nod. There was more to this mysterious red eyed enemy than she thought.

\--

Red X started to get up. Slightly dazed, he saw Night wing getting beaten by Rancid straddled on top of him. He then returned his sight to the real enemy he faced. She had the most sinister look on her face. Her only visible eye looked like that of someone with an insatiable desire for bloodlust as she held the limp body of the beautiful red haired woman as they both sank into the depths of the water.

Under his mask his eyes lit up with concern. He stood up and gained his balance as best he could with his current dizziness. When he finally got stable footing the platform his enemy stood on had fully submerged and could no longer be seen but the ground under his feet began to shake.

Everyone looked at the waters of the ocean. It seemed as if it had started boiling on command. The shaking ground turned into a low rumble as the once gentle waters now raged with volume.

Then they saw it...

A massive space ship from another world breached the surface with a loud boom as engines roared with fire, rivaling the power of a volcano, came pouring of out of the back of them propelling the ship towards the moonlit night sky.

X was in shock. He was not expecting that. But he snapped out of his stupor and without hesitation he took a few steps back from the edge of the cement and threw him self into a sprint before leaping of the edge and vanishing into thin air.

Gizmo knew his team had finally completed their mission and better yet... had finally beaten the Titans. He smiled at the sight of the ship flying away and turned to address his team.

"C'mon!" He yelled to them, "let's blow this stink storm!"

The Titans watched helplessly as their friend disappear into the night sky, they didn't even notice their foes had released them and regrouped on the ground near where they had first appeared. They waited for Kyd but he was still floating in the air near Raven who was fixed on the enormous UFO growing more and more distant.

"Kyd! Get us out of here!" Gizmo yelled

Kyd Wykkyd looked from his friends back at the ship, then back at Raven.

_"The battle ahead is not going to be easy." _He relayed to her mind, _"But I look forward to our next meeting."_ He seemed to be confident that the Titans could win and bring back their friend.

With that he disappeared into a shadow of his own creation before reappearing next to his friends and collectively they vanished once again.

The roar of foreign engines had finally faded and the waves had returned to their gentle and soothing rhythm. The only sound that clashed with the waves was the sound of fists landing on Nightwing's face.

He didn't even struggle. He laid there on the ground staring up into the sky where his beloved had disappeared into. As the fists continued to land on his cheeks he didn't even care. His mind had gone elsewhere.

_Twice. _He thought to himself. _That's twice I lost her. _The punches continued landing. But he didn't feel them. In fact... right now he couldn't feeling anything. _Twice I've failed her._The ferocious punches were brought to a swift halt but Nightwing continued to lay there like he didn't even notice.

Cyborg tackled Rancid off of him and was wrestling him on the ground trying to stop the violence.

"Yo! That's enough!" Cyborg yelled.

"Get off a' me!" Rancid shot back, "this punk is getting what he deserves!"

_Am I? _Nightwing began thinking about what he had just heard. _Do I deserve this? Did I bring this on myself? _His dark thoughts began to plague his mind as his eyes slowly shut.After seeing how broken Nightwing looked Kitten and fang smiled at each other.

"We did it Fangy-poo!" Kitten said with glee as she put the rifle over her shoulder and threw herself into Fang's arms.

Raven, Beastboy and Terra regrouped behind them and they all had a look of incomparable fury in their eyes.

"Why?" Raven said as she grit her teeth in anger, "why would you help them take her?!"

Fang and Kitten turned around to look at the three Titans in aggressive fighting stances. They seemed completely relaxed though as if they didn't even want to fight them.

"We didn't want to hurt _her. _We wanted to hurt _him_," Kitten respond pointing over her shoulder with her left thumb, "he nearly beat daddy to death just to figure out where the exchange for your prissy friend was going to be made."

"Shut up!" Terra yelled standing next to Raven. Her eyes began glowing yellow with increase power, "don't you dare insult Starfire!" She had a look no one had ever seen before. It seemed even worse than the look she had when she worked for Slade.

"We wouldn't even be here if he hadn't trashed my girlfriend's house and put her dad in the hospital!" Fang yelled back in anger as he leaned forward, "if you want to blame anyone... Blame him!"

_Me? _Nightwing continued to scoure his mind. _Am I to blame for this?_

The Titan's expressions then changed slightly... They looked at each other confused and started to question the situation. The way Kitten felt about her father, is exactly how they felt about Starfire right now. If anything... The score was even.

"Alright! Alright!" Rancid yelled as Cyborg continued to hold him down, "just get off me!"

Cyborg eased up and allowed Rancid to get to his feet. As if exchanging prisoners, the Titans regrouped with Nightwing on the ground behind them while the others regrouped in front of them as if a truce had been drawn.

"Do you mind telling us what's going on?!" Beastboy yelled in frustration as he rubbed the hair on his head with both hands, "I hate not understanding anything!"

"I was just minding my own business when that jackass showed up out of nowhere and did this to me!" Rancid gestured to his beaten and bruised face, "I might be bad, but he's no better than any of the other guys you fight!"

_A villain? _Nightwing's thoughts began to grow darker and darker. _Maybe I am. Maybe this is what a villain deserves._The Titans looked at each other once more. Cyborg looked at them like he knew they were telling the truth. It only made sense this is how Richard would have gotten the information.

"And you?" Terra asked Kitten. Her tone had changed and she felt like the one in the wrong here.

"He came to my house and attacked us for no reason!" She yelled with her annoying voice, "daddy even begged him to stop but even after he told him everything he kept hitting him until he could barely speak anymore!"

The Titans all hung their heads in shame. This was bad. They _were _the bad guys here. Or at least... Richard was.

"Consider us even," Rancid said still ripe with rage. No one really believed he was being honest, "but if I ever see him again... I'll break him." His voice sounded dark like he was dead serious.

"If _we _ever see you again," Raven replied with an even more serious sense of rage, "you'll never get the chance." Her words struck terror into everyone present. Even though she knew her friend was the one in the wrong, she still loved him and wouldn't let someone threaten him like that.

With that, the three foes then turned and began walking off towards the shadows peacefully before disappearing. They got what they came for, and the Titans couldn't do anything about it... If they did, their friend would most likely end up in jail and the others would be let off the hook. It left a bitter taste in their mouths.

The Titans turned around and looked down at their former leader laying motionless on the ground. They figured he must have passed out. They found themselves in a difficult position once again. Starfire was taken, Nightwing is now criminal, and they had to deal with both at the same time. After a long moment of silence one of them finally decided to make a decision for the leaderless team.

"We have to go after Starfire," Raven said urgently, "we can deal with this when we get back."

"We can't just leave him here alone," Cyborg argued, "who else is he gonna go after to get to Star?"

The team stood in silence once more as the calming waves continued to sooth the air around them but it never brought them any comfort. The night had gone from bad, to worse, to catastrophic and they were left in the most difficult position they had ever been in.

"So... what do we do?" Beastboy asked softly.

Nightwing started to feel the pain inflicted on his body and he grew tired. He hadn't slept since the night Starfire was taken and the toll on his body was starting to show as the fatigue weighed heavily on him. His eyes began to water as he thought about what his friends had said. The only question he could ask himself now was one that will continue to haunt him...

_What have I done?_


	20. Who are you?

**A/N: To everyone still reading, THANK YOU! I know this story probably isn't as interesting being that it's not nearly as cannon but it means a lot you guys are willing to read it. I got bogged down with homework and had to take a break to get that done so sorry about the delay. Here's the new chapter though! I hope you enjoy! As always, you know what to do! Thanks again!**

Faint voices like whispers pulsate through the cold air. They grow loud before quickly dying off making it nearly impossible to understand what they are saying.

They sound familiar though. Friendly even. Like a conversation between friends discussing something important.

Richard's eyes began to tremble as he regained consciousness. Everything hurt. His body, his jaw, his pride. Everything. He wasn't entirely sure what he was upset about but only that he did _something_.

Something he regret. Something devastating to him. His head was pounding and it hurt to think so he let his thoughts remain clouded. The only thing that was bringing him comfort at the moment was the cold barren floor he was laying on. It was smooth like laying on a frozen lake. It calmed his mind however so little as the voices continued to dance off the walls of the room he found himself in.

He continued to keep his eyes shut as his foggy memory about what had happened to him eluded him. Before long it all started coming back.

The beat down he received from a few of his former enemies. A retaliation for the way he beat _them _down. They didn't even deserve it. They hadn't done anything at the time. He did it just to get some information about where Starfire's attackers might be...

_STARFIRE!!!!_

Like a lightening bolt to his brain, the memory of her assailants flying away in a massive alien spacecraft overwhelmed his mind and his eyes shot open wide and he sat straight up on the floor to see a room he recognized.

It had 4 glowing walls and a door locked from the other side. Above the back wall was a small window for people to look down into the cell to check on the occupant and communicate with them.

"He's awake,"Raven's voice could be heard through the speaker in Richard's cell.

It became apparent that the speaker is where all the voices he had been hearing were coming from. The faint whispers echoing off the cell walls creating a sonic dance around him were actually his friends.

This cell was meant for Raven once upon a time. Though... she was never a prisoner. It was more of a protective barrier to stop her father from reaching her. Richard locked his sights on the window as he jumped to his feet knowing only they could open the door behind him.

"What's going on?!" Richard shout in anger. He was furious they weren't chasing down their new enemies but instead had found himself in prison cell and his friends were the wardens.

"We could ask you the same thing," Beastboy said in very serious tone.

"Mind explaining what _that _was?" Terra said also emphasizing her seriousness.

He jnew they were referring to their enemies with grudge to come after him. It was literally the reason Starfire was taken. If they hadn't been there occupying their efforts, they would have easily triumphed in battle. But there was something else they were nagging him about...

"Start explaining," Raven said as if continuing for Terra, "what did you do? And who was it that took Starfire? You shouted her name like you knew her and she even went as far as to call you by name..." Raven never missed a thing. She had always been very wise and a keen listener.

Richard grit his teeth. He was stuck. All the guilt for his actions before he lost consciousness came rushing back nearly making him dizzy again. He didn't want to deal with this right now. He still only had one thing on his mind and he still had the mentality of doing whatever it takes to get her back.

"Guys come on!" He shouted throwing his hands out wide infront of him as if pleading for help, "every second we waste Starfire gets further away!"

"You don't think we know that?" Cyborg respond through the intercom, "listen man, I understand you love her and want to get her back but you're completely out of control!"

"We don't have time for this!" Richard shot back, "we need to-"

"You're only delaying us more!" Raven shout as she cut him off, "spill it! Everything! No more of this mystery person we don't even recognize anymore!" He voice grew more intense as if she was hurt that she had to treat him like a villain but as of right now... he was.

Richard thought about it for a moment and gave in. She had a point. The longer they held him here interrogating him the more time they would waste and the less likely they would be able to catch up to Starfire.

Richard sighed and looked down at the floor in front of him in shame as he clenched his fists at his sides.

"Alright," he began, "her name is Ravenger. She works for Slade and I had a few run-ins with her as I was tracking him down."

"You called her _Rose_," Raven quickly respond sensing he was still hiding something.

Richard grew more irritated that they were knitpicking every little thing. It made it much harder for him to explain. Because it meant explaining in full detail revealing things he didn't want uncovered.

"That's... What I _thought _her name was," Richard admit with a sense of defeat. He thought back to his solo journey tracking down his nemesis and all the pain and suffering he through as he did. The other titans could see the expression on his face was like he was watching a nightmare haunt him in real time. After a moment he looked back up at the window where his friends stood and continued, "but she's nothing but a liar and she's just as evil if not worse than her dad-"

Richard stopped short after letting that last part slip out and his eyes went wide as he panicked over what he just said to his friends.

"Her dad?" Terra said confused.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..." Cyborg said adding to the confusion, "back up... You tryin to tell me that this chick's dad is Slade?!"

"Dude... Slade has a kid?" Beastboy said also confused. He looked like his mind had literally been set off like a nuclear bomb.

"And she's not the only one," Raven add with her serious monotone. She was the only one besides Richard who knew about Slade's other child. She looked at the others with a stern expression, "his son is honorary Titan."

The Titans eyes went wide in confusion and slightly panicked as if there was no way that could be true. They looked around at each other making sure they all heard what they thought they heard.

"So what happened, Dick?" Raven urged him to continue.

"It's not important," he quickly deflected, "what's important is the fact she has Starfire and we need to figure where they are going! We need go after-"

"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" Raven cut him off, furious that he was still hiding something from them.

Her aggression could be felt through the intercom. She shouted so loud the speaker in the cell pitched and whined causing Richard to grasp his ears tightly to protect his hearing. She couldn't believe how much he had changed and how little he trusted them anymore. It really was like he was a person they didn't even recognize.

The rest of the Titan's looked at her with heavy hearts. They didn't want to have to do this to their former leader and best friend but he didn't leave them any choice. Raven looked from Cyborg to Terra to Beastboy. Their expressions held no further arguments from the conversation they just had a moment ago. The one that Richard could only hear as whispers as he drifted in and out of consciousness. She sighed and lowered her voice before addressing Richard once more.

"Listen Dick," she began, "_we _will go after Starfire. _We _will find her and bring her home. _You..." _She sounded like she was scolding a child, "_you _will stay here and face the consequences of your actions when we get back."

"But-" Richard began to protest before getting silenced once more.

"You attacked people for your own selfish reasons and made things much worse than they had to be!" Raven raised her voice again not even giving him a chance speak anymore.

"You've totally lost your mind, dude!" Beastboy add backing up his girlfriend, "the Dick _we_ know would never pull a stunt like that."

"Sorry, Dick," Terra said full of remorse, "but we just can't risk you doing something else you might regret."

"It's for your own good, man," Cyborg add, finishing the conversation.

Richard bowed his head in shame once more before slowly falling to his knees. He sat back on his heels and slouched his shoulders over his body as if he had completely lost his will to continue on.

They were right. They had no reason to trust him anymore. He had done things he should have never even considered. Now, because of those actions, his friends saw him as a liability. Not an ally.

_What have I done? _Richard thought to himself once more.

The team then regrouped and left the room above the holding cell that Richard occupied without another word.

The sun was rising as the team had gathered in the hanger where the T-Ship was being prepped for space travel. They all loaded up on board and the engines roared to life for take off.

"So... do we even know where we're going?" Beastboy asked over the inner comm link.

"I cross referenced the ship that took off with the data base I have on file for UFOs that we've come into contact with," Cyborg said answering his question, "I knew it looked familiar but there's one place that will know for sure if I'm right."

"and that is..." Beastboy said still wanting an answer.

"We're going to Tamaran, Beastboy," Raven said as if trying to silence everyone so they can finally take off.

The top of the Tower began split as if Moses himself had opened a pathway as the bright blue sky revealed itself. With the whir of the engines the ships jets explode in a firey discharge of intense power and the ship launched through the Tower's opening like a NASA space shuttle heading for orbit.

Richard still sit on his heels in a defeated and depressed state. He contemplated never moving from his current position again. Everything he's done since he had gotten back had only made things worse and worse and he had no one to blame but himself.

He didn't even flinch as the ground beneath him rumbled and shook as the T-Ship launched on take off. He looked as if he were dead inside. But then... Something shook him as the sound of the T-Ship faded into the distance.

"I thought they'd never leave," a sarcastic robotic voice echoed through the intercom in his cell.

Richard looked up at the window to see Red-X staring down at him with his arms crossed.

"Don't look so surprised to see me," X said as if Richard should have been expecting him, "you wanna get her back right?"


	21. Prisons

**A/N Hello everyone reading! thanks for following this story with me. Sorry I've been pretty late with uploading chapters... but in case anyone was wondering... I've been searching for comic book illustrators and even animators to see if I cant bring my season 6 story to life. if that sounds like something you guys might be interested in... LET ME KNOW!!! I thought it could be a fun side project. Anyways... you know what to do! Drop a review and let me know how I can improve! Thanks again!**

The masked vigilante continued to stare down through the glass into the prison cell where his opposite counterpart was being held. It seemed almost too ironic that he, the bad guy, was looking at Richard, the good guy, behind bars. It seemed the irony was think in the air. Richard had his jaw dropped as he fumbled around in his mind for the words to say to the man looking down on him.

"Well?" X said growing impatient, "do you want to get her back or not?"

Richard snapped out of his completely dumbfounded state of mind and rose to his feet still looking up at the masked man holding his freedom in the palm of his hand. He closed his mouth and his jaw clenched tightly. He know there was something else to this. some kind of motive that X had to gain from helping him escape. He knew what the motive was. It made his skin crawl as his blood boiled in his veins out of anger.

"I won't let you have her," He said through his teeth.

"Listen kid," X sounded like he was getting more than annoyed at this point, "neither of us will get her if you keep acting like this. More importantly... Who do you think you are saying I can't have her like it's _your _choice?"

Richard's expression turned to embarrassment. It wasn't until Red X said it out loud that it finally dawned on him how possessive and controlling he sounded. It almost knocked him off his feet.He looked down from X and the cold floor in front of him and started to think about that...

_What's happening to me? _He thought to himself..

"So what's it gonna be?" X said prying for an answer, "stay here and rot? Or go get her back?"

"I'm going to get her back," Richard said agressively without looking up at his current warden.

"You don't sound very convincing kid. Not when you're locked in room meant for the end of the world," X sounded like he was trying to get something out of Richard.

"Shut up!" Richard screamed as he looked back up at the glass window with the same rage from earlier. He raised his hand point a finger at him as if threatening X with the direction of his index finger, "she _way _too good for a guy like you! You only think of yourself! I was trying to protect her!"

"And you've done an amazing job with that," X spat back sarcastically, "last I checked, I'm the one who knows where she is and you're the one in a prison cell. So who's doesn't deserve who? Just who are you trying to convince here?"

Richard's face turned from angry to ashamed. His pointed finger withdrew itself back to his side and he looked down at his feet and began to think about what he was just told. It made him realize what he has been doing. It made him really think about what he has done that got him to this point.

Red X saw the change in his body language and could see that the message was finally beginning to settle in. He had wasted enough time as it is and knew if they wasted anymore more their mission would only get harder.

"But I can't do this alone," the robotic voice echoed through the cell...

X then reached forward and pressed a button on the control panel in front of him and the door behind Richard made a loud hiss followed by a whir and ending with a loud clang indicating door was now unlocked.

Richard continued to keep his head down as he turned to head for the door. He couldn't even bring himself to look at his former enemy. He couldn't deny that X was right. As of right now... He was the bad guy. He was the villain. Set free by a man he failed to put behind bars in the past. With all these thoughts coursing through his mind, it started to fill with a poisonous fog. A plaguing imagery of Starfire on the arm of Red X. The image of losing her because of his own actions. Worst of all he began to think something that felt cold dagger piercing his heart...

_Do I even deserve a girl like her? Maybe she would be better of with a guy like him..._Before long, Richard stood in front of X. X had his arms crossed in front of him once again as if looking down on his newly acquired teammate.

"Are you done?" He asked with a hint of insult, "we can't waste anyone time with stupid games."

Richard grew angry once more and looked up at the mask bearing the X he had designed. It was his suit. His mask. His creation... His fault. It was all _him_. He made it possible for Red X to be standing in front of him. He was the one who ruined the date with Starfire. He was the one caused things to fall apart when they were talking to Rose at the dock. It was all Richard's fault. The tension in his face relaxed as he accept the reality he had just come to realize. He let out a heavy sigh and looked away from X in shame once more...

"Alright I get it," he started, "I screwed up. I ruined your plan and made things worse. I lost Star the first night and took things too far in a stupid attempt to fix that," his voice trailed off as his remorse grew inside him, "and now she's gone... because of me."

Red X studied Richard. He focused on the tone of his voice. His body movements. It was like he was watching closely for something and it seemed like he saw what he was looking for...

"That's the kid I remember," X said with a sense of hope.

Richard looked up at X surprised at what he heard. It brought him a sense of nostalgia. Being praised for who he was. He had nearly forgotten what if felt like after being gone for so long with no one else around.

"And I can't do this without him," X extended a hand out Richard asking for a handshake as if accepting a business deal for a major corporation.

Richard looked down at the extended hand then back up at the Red X mask. This guy really did only think of himself... But sometimes thinking of yourself meant helping someone you care about for your own selfish reasons. However, it still meant you'd help others in the process. As ridiculous as that might sound... it was still better than nothing. So Richard decided to extend a white flag of truce.

"We both want the same thing here," Richard began, "but until she's safe back home, we need to put our competition for her heart on hold. No dirty tricks. No mind games. No double crossing. Starfire comes first. Deal?" Richard reached forward with his hand and gripped Red X hand tightly narrowing his eyes at him waiting for a response.

X didn't like the sound of this deal. It meant going against everything he stood for. He does things because he wants to. He looks out for himself and his own interests. But this deal would mean he would have to do things even if it meant going against his own interests. It annoyed him but what choice did he have? He narrowed his eyes right back at Richard's as if returning the lightening bolt that Richard had sent him. He squeezed Richard's hand aggressively before responding...

"Deal..."

\--

Drifting through the vast emptiness of an airless vacuum, jet engines gave off a gentle power that sent the ship flying through the darkness at incredible speed. On board the ship it was quiet and calm as Starfire slowly began to rouse and return to consciousness.

It seemed to quiet too Starfire. Was the whole thing a dream? Was she still asleep in her own bed in the safety and silence of her own room? Her mind entertained the idea of her warm bed and even played with the thought of reaching out for the jacket that still retained Richard's scent. It was at this moment she opened her eyes to find her outstretched arm searching the floor where she lay for the jacket she craved. As her hand found nothing but a flat smooth surface reality rush back to her and jolted her awake.

She jumped to her feet and almost instantly keeled over in response to a sharp pain that shot through her chest and upper abdomen. She clutched at the pain and began to feel nauseous out of nowhere. Then it came back to her. She had been attacked by a weapon that seemed to be more powerful than anything she ever encountered. It had even left burn marks on her skin around her biceps where the coil had wrapped around her body. This was a sight she rarely ever saw and it only add to her feeling of nausea. She put a hand over mouth and gave a soft gag into her hand and she continued to hunch over her pained body when a voice crossed the room towards her...

"I wouldn't yack in there if I were you," the soft and soothing voice sounded out. But it wasn't clear... it almost sounded slightly muffled as if speaking though a plastic wall, "no one will be cleaning it till we land... and who knows when that will be."

Starfire strained as she stood up straight and began to walk across the room. She could tell she was insome kind of bubble... a bubble that seemed somewhat familiar... When she reached the edge of the dome near what looked like a doorway she saw someone sitting just outside of it. Starfire prrssed her cheek against the rounded surface of the wall in front of her to get a better look...

"You!" Starfire gasped. She recognized this woman. It was the same woman that had lent her a tube of lipstick on a disastrous date, "Who are you? Where are you taking me? For what purpose did you attack me?!" The questions came pouring out of her rapid fire.

Rose Wilson sat on a small stool as she leaned her back against the wall next to her bounty's cell with her arms crossed in front of her chest and her left heel propped up on her right knee. Her eyes remained closed as if she were trying to take a nap on the long flight.

"Speak!" Starfire ordered. She began to get angry and was having no more of these tricks. The pain began to fade as her adrenaline started to pick up speed. Her hands began to glow green with starbolts as her feet slightly eased off the ground.

"I wouldn't do that if-" But Rose was cut off by the sound of a starbolt discharging from Starfire's fists.

It went flying in every direction around her small bubble of a prison cell before losing energy and dying away to nothing.

"Well what do you know?" Rose said with half a laugh as her wicked grin reappeared, "the kid genius actually did have a force field strong enough to hold you."

She was referring to Gizmo of course. The one person who had successfully built a level 4 containment field string enough to hold all of the Titan's at once. It actually worked really well on four of the Titans when Cyborg had infiltrated Brother Blood's school for villains and turned on his team for a brief moment before saving them.

Starfire calmed herself as her green glow faded and she gently hovered down to the floor. The pain began to return at a diminished level of discomfort but was still enough for her to raise a hand to her chest just above her abdomen where the pain was most intense.

"Please," Starfire pleaded, "why do you do this?"

"You're asking the wrong girl, honey," Ravenger shot back immediately, "I'm just here for the money."

Starfire sat in silence for a moment, not understanding what she meant. Was she not the one trying to capture her after all? What was she doing here then?!

"If you are not the one behind my attackers... then who-"

Starfire was interrupted by a sliding door opening with a sharp hiss and closing just as quick as they stepped though at the end of the hall. The sound of heeled boots clacking on the ground approached Starfire's prison cell. It wasnt until this person was right in front of her that she gasped as all the life and hope in her eyes drained from her entire body...

"I missed you sister, dear."


	22. The Journey

**A/N: To all my readers, welcome back! So I tried and tired, but it looks like making my season 6 into a comic isn't going to happen. But the good news is now I'll have more time to write here instead! I hope you guys haven't faltered in the longer gaps between the chapters. It won't be like that anymore! As always drop a fav/follow and leave me a review let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!**

As the T-ship flew through the stars of an endless black abyss, everyone seemed to be as silent as the vacuum of space surrounding them. No one knew what to expect as they arrived on Starfire's home planet... without Starfire. The last time they were there Beastboy nearly had his head ripped off by Starfire's guardian for calling the giant Tamaranian Starfire's "nanny." So what would he do to them if he found out she was taken hostage by an unknown enemy under their watch?

The whole team was filled with a sense of anxiety. Though it was hard to tell if they were anxious because each with ticking second Starfire would be further out of reach or if they arrive on her home planet if they would only cause more problems. Most likely it was a mixture of both.

After flying for hours, Beastboy decided to finally say something as if tearing open a rift in the silent darkness of outer space.

"So... Terra, what did you tell your parents before we left?" He said trying to start any kind of conversation.

Terra was staring out her window into the emptiness lost in thought.

"Um, heeellllooo, earth to Terra..." Beastboy said a little louder fluctuating the pitch of his voice in an attempt to get her attention.

"Huh?" Terra said as it finally registered she was being addressed, "oh. Yeah. I just told them the truth. Starfire needs our help so I might be gone a couple days."

"And they were ok with that?" Raven asked joining in the conversation. She thought back to Terra's last interaction with her parents. She didn't seem to enjoy their company. She actually seemed more annoyed by her parents than anything. Something was going on between them and it was nagging at the back her mind ever since.

"Well..." Terra began, "not exactly..."

"What do you mean?" Beastboy said urging her to continue.

Terra paused for a moment and thought back to the conversation with her folks. They had always been supportive but they never encouraged her to help the Titans. They only ever seemed to encourage her to keep up with school and the normal everyday things that regular people deal with. Maybe that was what annoyed her. They wanted her to be a normal highschool teenager but anyone could tell without even knowing her... she was far from normal.

"Let's just say they don't mind I'm here... but wish I wasn't," Terra said with a sense of sorrow.

"Back up," Cyborg said unable to hold his tongue anymore, "are you saying they don't want you around the team?" His voice held a tone of anger and betrayal as if they had no reason not to trust him and his friends.

"No!" Terra said quickly, "no, no, no." She thought about it again and decided to tell them what she thought the problem was even if she didn't know for sure, "I think they just want me to be some normal kid. And I did want that... before I remembered who I was. But..." She paused, looking for the words to describe what she meant, "I'm just... _Not._"

"Well who _is_?" Cyborg said trying to lighten the mood, "and why would anyone _want _to be normal?"

"Yeah!" Beastboy pitched in, "being normal is so boring. Ever since I met you weirdos life has been an incredible non-stop action-comedy with no commercial breaks!"

The team all laughed in unison as they drfited through the weightlessness of the universe. Beastboy sounded proud and happy to know them and even more proud to call them his friends. It put all their minds a bit as ease... The conversation actually ended up killing a bit of time as the neared their destination. But the feeling of worry and suspense returned once they saw the planet Tamaran come into view...

"So... does anyone know what to even say?" Cyborg asked looking for a plan.

"We tell them the truth," Raven respond instantly, "Starfire's been captured and we need their help."

Back on Earth, Richard had re-supplied himself and geared up turning back into Nightwing. He and Red X were preparing to leave the Tower... though Red X wasn't doing much preparing. He was just waiting on his temporary ally. He was leaning against the wall outside the room Nightwing was in relearning all his weapons and gear and even with a mask on you could tell he was growing impatient.

"Are you done yet?" X asked with an annoyed tone.

Nightwing place the final item in his belt and turned for the exit and as he walked out he looked at X and nod his head.

"So whats the plan?" He asked looking to form some kind of idea on how to proceed.

Red X turned his head towards the man in the V shaped mask, "What do you mean?" the robotic voice shot back as if it was obvious, "we go after her."

Nightwing narrowed his eyes under his mask, "I _mean _as in a plan on how we do that," Nightwing spat. Now he was the annoyed one.

"I was hoping you'd have a ride we could take," Red X sounded like he was laying the sarcasm on thick, "after all, doesn't daddy buy you all your toys?" He gestured to the suit and weapons Nightwing had on him.

This made Nightwing angry but he bit his tongue knowing X was just trying to get under his skin... again.

"Hate to disappoint you but I don't talk to him much anymore," Nightwing said with confidence, "we're on our own. Besides..." he turned away from the man wearing his red x mask and began walking down the hall, "my team and I built all of this ourselves."

Red X let out a small chuckle and lift himself out of his leaning position and followed Nightwing down the hall. Before long they both end up in the hanger where Nightwing began to grow more and more agitated.

The large room big enough to house multiple ships of all kinds was just a large empty space. The steps the two would take as they walked into the room would echo with a deep and long resonance as if ensuring the two that this room was definitely vacant.

Nightwing let out a sigh of disappointment and turned to his former enemy as if embarrassed to ask what he was about to ask. Before he could speak Red X spoke up...

"I take it this empty room was supposed to have something in it?" The sarcasm never ended with X.

"You wouldn't happen to have a ship built of deep space would you?" Nightwing managed to say while burying his pride.

Red X smiled under his mask as if he had been waiting for that question.

"I thought you'd never ask," he said with pride as he turned to leave the hanger and the exit the tower.

They both exit the Tower and began approaching the waves crashing on the island Red X grabbed a small remote off his belt and clicked one button on it...

In the shallows of the waters lights flashed in response and a stylish hybrid submarine/jet rose to the surface of the water. It looked a like a massive stingray, with a red "X" engraved across the entire body, had left the safety of the ocean at the beckon call of its master.

Red X turned around to face Nightwing with a smug look under his mask, "all aboard," the robotic voice taunted.

Nightwing had an eyebrow raised as if not impressed. He was more curious how he owned something like this. Normally it would be the first thing he asked but for now it would be best to deal with it after they saved Starfire.

"Alright... So we have a ship... But we don't know who took her or where they are," Nightwing sounded like he wanted a bit more of a plan before they just took off into space.

"Speak for yourself," X shot back, "while you were busy wrestling with Rancid I decided to get as close to the ship as possible and plant a tracker."

X raised a device from his belt with a small screen depicting a map of the solar system. A small red dot could be seen on that tiny map blinking every so often.

Nightwing looked closer at it and he could clearly see the red dot was moving through space slowly as if it were a ship in a virtual world. Red X _did _have a back-up plan. He beat Nightwing once again at his own game.

"Like I said," X started to lay his pride on thick, "I won't fail where you _do_."

Nightwing felt like he was just sucker-punched. His pride dropped even further as he started to realize he was depending on X way more than he ever wanted to and he didn't deny that this was most likely to be _exactly _what Red X wanted.

It seemed as Nightwing's pride fell, Red X's pride grew. It was like he had already started playing this game for Starfire's heart and he was beginning to take a lead over Nightwing... and Starfire wasn't even in the picture yet.


	23. Tamaran

**A/N: Hey guys! Welcome back! I'm gonna start trying to upload a chapter a few times a week to get this story rolling. I feel bad that its no where near as quick as my last story. Anyways... I'm planning on a different origin story for Blackfire than the comics spin off. So I hope you guys like it! As always drop a fav/follow and please leave a review and let me know what you think! Thanks again! Hope you enjoy!**

Time had stopped in Starfire's cell. Her face held lifeless eyes and her expression showed nothing more than hopelessness. Like a terminal patient battling for their life against cancer it seemed like there was nothing she could do. Her "_cancer_" just kept coming back.

"Sister..." Starfire breathed as she lowered he head in her cell. She sounded like her will had been defeated.

"Aren't you glad to see me?" Blackfire's arrogant tone compensated for the lack of presence from Starfire's.

"No," Starfire quietly admit. It seemed like she was more admitting to herself. Whatever hope she once had for her relationship with her only living family member seemed to vanish in that moment, "I am not pleased to see you at all!" Her anger rose as her eyes filled with tears, "why do you do this?! Ever since my escape from the Gordanians you have done nothing but treat me like _gorshak_!" Starfire did her best to maintain a professional demeanor, but she was so upset and hurt that the Tamaranian curse-word just came flying out of her mouth.

"My, my," Blackfire reviled in her sisters anguish, "your time on Earth has changed you. What happened your manners, dear sister?" She leaned forward putting her face just inches from Starfire's leaving just the barrier of her cell separating them. "Did you forget you banished me? Stole my throne? Had me thrown in prison?" Her tone grew angrier with every question as if she was completely innocent and Starfire was to blame for all her problems.

"You would have _me_ take _your_ place in prison!" Starfire shot back as the tears began rolling down her cheeks, "my sister," she began sobbing as she looked away from her very own blood that stood in front of her, "do you not remember?"

"Oh... I remember," Blackfire respond instantly standing up straight as if to tower over her sister, "and if you had just took the fall, none of this would be happening right now."

"That is not what I meant," Starfire said softly as she sobbed.

Blackfire raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and waited for her younger sibling to continue.

"We used to play together. We would go on adventures and wrestle with the zopgnars in the rocklands," Starfire looked back to her older sister like the memories were fresh in her mind as if they happened yesterday. She cherished them. The childhood memories of her with her family.

Blackfire looked back at Starfire with a scowl, "I remember being told I was cursed," her eye's began to glow dark purple as if she were ready to fight with rage fueling her, "I remember getting dirty looks everywhere I went. Why do you think I spent so much time away from the palace? Why do you think I spent all my time fighting monsters?"

Starfire's expression went from hurt to shocked. This was the first time she had heard of this and was wondering what she meant.

"I wanted to prove I wasn't some monster everyone thought I was. Everyday living in the constant glare of my own people's judgment while they pretend to care about me only to insult me behind my back!" Her fist began to glow purple like her eyes as if she were about to force an answer from her sister, "admit it..." Blackfire growled, "you were just like them weren't you?!"

Starfire didn't need to be an empath like her best friend Raven to feel the intense emotion radiating off of her sister like the heat of a bonfire. She was in pain. A pain that was once just a small spark but overtime grew into I roaring wildfire, uncontrollable and impossible to stop.

She lowered her head in shame. As her only younger sister, she had no idea this had happened. That her sibling had gone though _any _of this. It nearly broke her even more.

"I never knew," Starfire admit with guilty conscience, "I... never thought my older sister could be bothered by such things," she looked up and made eye contact with the dark glow of Blackfires eyes, "you always seemed so strong as if nothing could ever harm you."

Blackfire's expression lightened. Something about the sincerity in Starfire's voice seemed so nostalgic. Like a craving she was starved for. Something she depended on. After a moment, her glow faded as she calmed herself and began to confess as her voice trailed off, "I... I just wanted to show mother and father... I was worthy of their love..." She looked away from Starfire unsure if she should say what was on her mind, "that I..." she hesitated, "that I _could _be the future of Tamaran." She emphasized that phrase as if trying to convince her parents to give her a chance.

Starfire lifted herself to eye level with her sibling. The lying nature of her sister was always flawless in deception but this time... Something was different. Starfire couldn't put her finger on it... But she could tell this wasn't a lie.

"I do not understand," Starfire spoke with a nervous confusion.

Blackfire's sense of remorse was short lived as she heard her sister's response...

_Of course you don't. _She thought to herself. She grit her teeth as her anger returned...

"What do you mean?" Starfire continued, "mother and father-"

"Loved _you_!" Blackfire interrupted as if insulting her intelligence. As if not missing a beat, she jumped straight back her her angry tone, "I remember them telling me _you _were the furture of Tamaran!"

"That... That can not be true!" Starfire said refusing to believe her beloved parents would say anything like that to their own daughter, "why would they say something so cruel?!" Starfire sounded angry as if defending her parents honor.

Blackfire calmed down and sighed as she looked at the floor for a moment. She had forgotten how gullible and oblivious her sister really was.

"You really didn't know did you?" She asked as if not expecting and answer.

Starfire shook her head softly waiting patiently for an answer. She really had no idea what Blackfire was talking about. She was so confused she had no idea what to think.

"Kori..." Blackfire said softly as she looked back up at her prisoner. This was the first time she had used her sister's nickname in years, "did you ever wonder why I'm the _only _Tamaran with black hair and dark eyes?"

\--

The team of young adults began their approach to the barren planet of Tamaran. The ship with was awkwardly quiet with a sense of anxiety. This visit could go either way. One: the Tamaranians blame the capture of their princess on the Titans... Or two: they work with them to get her back. One thing was certain though, no matter what the decision the Titans were going to face some serious conflict.

The Titans flew over a rocky wasteland of a planet where they could see a massive tower that stood out amongst the emptiness like a diamond in the rough. As they got closer, they began flying over the life forms of commoner Tamaranians who would look up at the T-ship and wave as if greeting a celebrity. Word traveled fast and before long the entire population of Tamaranians knew the Titans had arrived.

"So," Beastboy said with nervous crack in his voice, "do you think they remember us?"

"Well they haven't tried to shoot us down..." Cyborg tossed back to his best friend, "thats a good sign right?"

As the ship approached the palace tower standing tall above the rest of the planet, they could see two rows of tamaranian soldiers lined up on the walkway from the platform meant for docking space crafts. As the T-ship touched down on the platform, they began to dismount on to the foreign plant to be greeted by a low bow from the two long rows of soldiers wielding their tall spears in one hand while the other crossed their chests in a tight fist rendering a salute.

It seemed as though the Titans had been greeted as if they were royalty. Or perhaps... its because they all thought royalty was with them...

Walking down the rows of soldiers was a tall and massive Tamaranian man with a scar over his left eye from previous battles. On top of his head was a silver crown that slid down his sideburns and covered his forehead making it unmistakable that he was the Grand Ruler of the planet. He raised his massive arms towards the Titans who slowly and cautiously walked towards him with open palms as if inviting them in closer...

"Welcome young little ones!" He exclaimed with triumphant confidence, "it has been much too long since you last visit us!" As he lowered his arms, his eyes began to focus as they darted from Titan to Titan and he quickly realized the one person he wanted to see was not with them... His tone quickly shifted to an agressive and concerned tone, "where is Princess Starfire?"

The Titans all looked at each other as if playing a mental game of rock paper scissors to determine who would tell the massive beast of a man what happened to his child that he raised...

"Well..." Cyborg started to explain as he looked from his team back to the Grand Ruler. He lift his right hand to the back of his head making his nervousness plain as day, "we were hoping you guys could help us figure that out..."


	24. Explanations

**A/N: To all my readers, welcome back! I had a ton of fun writing this chapter and setting up the story for further excitment. I hope you guys like it enough to stick around till the end. As always drop a fav/follow and please leave a review! They help me stay motivated more than you think! I hope you enjoy!**

Stars in the distance drift by with the slowest speed imaginable. The distance between them and Nightwing was so great they seemed like they were standing still from the ship that Red-X was piloting.

This ship seemed almost too amazing. Something someone couldn't build alone and definitely way too expensive for an individual to afford by them self. It had the body of a sports car with four seats that were encased by a single large airlock door made of glass that would close over them like the jaws of a shark. The wings were small and compact. They angled towards the rear of the ship giving the ship's appearance a sleek and smooth look. It fit Red-X personality perfectly.

It kept nagging at Nightwing's mind relentlessly. He didn't understand how Red-X could manage to get his hands on vehicles like this. Cyborg couldn't even build a ship like this all by himself, much less find the parts for it.

_I guess thats the perk of being in underground crime circle. _Nightwing thought to himself.

As if reading his mind Red-X called out to his passenger from the pilots seat.

"Got somethin to say?" X said with a sense of pride. It seemed almost as if he was gloating.

Nightwing almost jumped as if he had been caught. His head snapped towards Red-X expecting to see him staring back at him but to his surprise he was facing forward as if fixated on the black ocean filled with stars. Nightwing even began to question if he had said his thoughts out loud and imagined X saying something... Or maybe it was just written all over his face... Either way he decided to speak his mind.

"I just don't understand how you managed all... _this_," he confessed as he looked back out to the slow moving stars, "but I guess I'd rather not know. There's no way you acquired these things legally," Nightwing finished as if trying to make it sting but he knew it wouldn't. Not to someone like this.

X glanced over at Nightwing as if he was just being ignorant at this point. He studied his body language and thought about the tone in the young hero's voice. To him, _he_ didn't understand how Nightwing got to where he was.

"You know... I always thought you were smarter than me," his robotic voice started, "but if you stuck with the old man for so long without seeing how much he used you then I guess I could be wrong."

Night raised an eyebrow and looked over at the masked man as if demanding he continue.

"What?" X respond in a taunting manner, "did I hurt your _feewings?" _

"I actually don't know who or what you're talking about," Nightwing shot back unphased by the taunt from his rival.

"Seriously?" X chuckled seeing his small attempt at tearing down his rival's self esteem failed, "well... I guess I can't blame you. I would try to forget him too if I were you," he finished with that but it seemed like he was hiding something.

"Forget _who?" _Nightwing probed further. He narrowed his eyes beneath his mask as if focusing harder on every move X would make in response. But the response was just as he expected.

Red-X remained silent. He almost let his secret slip. He nearly forgot how smart and cunning the hero next to him really was. But even if his past was revealed... What could Nightwing do about it? It was this question that kept him from answering the previous one. He didn't know what could be done with that information... and it scared him.

Nightwing relaxed and let out a small sigh, "fine," he relented as he looked back into the darkness. He raised his strong arms behind his head creating a head rest with his forearms, "we'll just sit in this awkward silence the rest of the way," he paused and thought about that for a moment. He looked down at the center dashboard of the impressive ship where a map of the galaxy with a small red blinking dot continued to blink.

Nightwing's thoughts began to race. Starfire was dominating his thoughts. Qas she ok? Is she hurt? What do they plan to do with her? His thoughts plagued his mind as if a rattlesnake sank its teeth in the very depths of his conscience.

But then a different question popped up in his mind...

_What if Rose tells Star?_

Just thinking about the question sent a chill down his spine and turned his entire body cold...

\--

Aboard a different ship, the beautiful women sit in silence as they slowly approached their destination.

The silver haired bounty hunter sat in her usual comfortable position leaning her back against the wall with arms as a head rest and her leg kicked up over the other. Her smirk disappeared when her "client" began to empathize with her bounty. From her experience this only makes things complicated and could cause trouble for her later.

"I do not understand," Starfire said behind the force field that imprisoned her, "truly there are other Tamaranians who have such traits," her face held a look bewilderment. Like she couldn't have been _this _negligent that she never noticed her own sister was the only one who looked the way she did. But the more she searched her memories for ANY other Tamaranian with dark hair and dark eyes... she found none.

Blackfire chuckled, "you always were pretty oblivious weren't you?" For some reason the fact her sister didn't understand what she was talking about brought her comfort... but in that moment she couldn't quite understand why. All she knew was she was still angry with her. Angry that they were never treated as equals even by their own parents, "but why would I expect _you _to even care?"

The smirk returned to Rose's face. As long as her client didn't make any second thoughts about their deal she could care less what happens between them. So far it seemed things were going well.

"Please, sister," Starfire begged, "explain what it is you are referring to," her voice was genuine and real. She wanted to understand no matter how bizarre and foreign the concept was to her, she still wanted to at least try.

Blackfire could see this in her eyes. It brought back memories. Memories she had buried deep in her subconscious to justify her actions. It started to cause her mind to question her decisions...

Rose noticed the growing silence and looked up at Blackfire's face. It was qritten all over her. She was second guessing. Feeling she had no other choice she stood up and intervened.

"I'd hate to be the one to break up such a touching reunion," Rose started as she move to an uncomfortably close position behind Blackfire's shoulder looking into Starfire's cell, "but you have a crew to lead and I have a reward to collect" she finished with a sinister whisper as she leaned into Blackfire's ear almost like a devil sitting on her shoulder.

Blackfire snapped out of her trance and her hatred almost instantly returned shutting away the distant memories once more.

"You're absolutely right," she said agressively as she turned to the door way she had first come in from, "let's leave little miss perfect to rot. We have more important things to tend to."

As Blackfire walked past her Rose stood still unblinking and stared into Starfire's eyes with an evil glare. Her eyes looked as if they were send her prisoner a message...

_Nice try._

Rose then turned and followed her accomplice out of the brig.

Starfire read the message loud and clear and her anger began to boil over. Her eyes began to glow green as she raised a powerful starbolt fist before slamming it against the barrier infront of her as if trying to physically remove that sinister grin from her enemy's face.

The doors at the end of the hall shut behind Rose leaving Starfire all alone.

_I will not let you defeat me. _She thought to herself.

_\--_

"You don't know where the princess is?!" Galfor shouted as if interrogating his visitors.

Beastboy let out a small squeak as his mind raced back to the first time he had met Galfor. The size and fierce tone in his voice was the most intimidating force he'd experienced from a single person.

The Titans all froze for a second as their nerves began to break and panic began to take over.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Galfor continued, "what happened?!"

"We don't know..." Raven said softly unsure of how to explain.

"All we know is _someone _wants her and is willing to pay A LOT of money to get her," Cyborg add as if trying to just cut to the chase.

Galfor wasn't satisfied. He bore his teeth and let out a low growl as if demanding more answers without asking.

"Seriously dude!" Beastboy shout in terror, "some weird creepy lady chick with this _bzzzapt _gun thingy and just _shhhhhhwwwwoooooop _and then _pkwwwwwooooouuuuuu!_ Off into space!" Beastboy was gasping for air as he finished his half-charade, half-verbal explanation filled with sound effects and over exaggerated hand gestures.

It made no sense to the rest of the Titans and they all stared at him with a strict "facepalm" look on their faces.

"I see," Galfor respond to Beastboy. To everyone's surprise, his tone eased up greatly and his intimidating posture relaxed as he raised a hand to his chin to let the information sink in, "this is a great tragedy indeed," he turned and began walking quickly back to the palace, "come, we will discuss this further in the war room."

All the Titan's jaws were hanging off their heads by a single hinge. They couldn't believe what they just saw and heard.

"What... just happened?" Terra said as if scared to speak at all on this distant planet. She looked at Raven as if asking her like she should know...

"I... just learned to accept it and not ask questions," Raven's monotone replied as if she had been asking herself that very same question for months now.

"I uh... Have a way with words?" Beastboy asked, just as equally confused as the others.

"Forget about that," Cyborg blurt out as if he was more annoyed the others didn't hear what Galfor had just said, "did he just say _war room_?"


	25. Reminiscing

**A/N**: **to all my readers, thank you and welcome back! Sorry for the delay. Got caught up in some halloween shenanigans. I love this chapter because we're seeing Blackfire and Starfire's past start to come to life. Let me know what you think and drop a review! As always fav/follow and I hope you enjoy!**

Galfor led the titans down the long platform from the T-ship past the long line of guards holding spears in their left arms. With each guard they passed they filed off one by one behind the titans following their leader and his guests into the war room.

The uneasy feeling around the titans was visible on their faces. Raven couldn't help but keep glancing over her should from the corner of her eye towards the guards behind her. Terra could see the nervousness from her hooded friend and it caused her to look over her shoulder as well to see what Raven was looking at...

"What is it?" Terra whispered to her.

Raven looked back at Terra and see the worry written all over her face. She didn't even need to focus her energy to sense the intense butterflies in her stomach. She tried to calm Terra by composing herself and speaking softly and calmly, "I'm sure it's nothing," she whispered back, "but everyone is on edge right now. Even more so than we are knowing Star was taken by someone..."

"It's almost like they know something we don't," Cyborg said quietly with one hand cupping the side of his mouth as if trying to pass a secret.

"Not only that, but I feel like there's something they aren't telling us..." Beastboy add.

Cyborg looked at him with an annoyed expression as if telepathically saying _I just said that... _Leave it to Beastboy to take the edge off the tension surrounding them.

As they continued walking down the platform, a massive doorway into the royal castle approached with every step. As they stepped through they immediately noticed the decor of the castle had changed since they had been there a year ago. It was brighter, more vibrant, with a comforting allure of bright white walls etched with emerald green gems spaced with perfect symmetry every 10 feet or so. The color gave the the titans a sense of nostalgia like the walls reminded them of something... Or rather... someone.

The titans all looked at each other as if thinking the same thing and before they could speak they nearly ran into the person they were following who had stopped in his tracks staring intently at something. The titans froze in their tracks and looked up to where Galfor was focused and their eyes went wide...

"We could not thank her enough," Galfor said softly while he remained fixated on the gorgeous statue in front of him. The statue was an identical replica of Starfire. She had a fist raised in the air holding a stone replica of the crown Glafor wore. Her eyes were made of the same emerald green gems that lined the walls and she stood proud with a fierce look on her face like she had just liberated her people, "all of Tamaran was terrified of what could have been the darkest of times in our history. Blackfire would have no doubt brought great suffering to us all. She saved us from that torment." He bowed his head in respect to the woman he raised and couldn't be more proud of her.

The titans watched closely and were more than shocked at Glafor's words. They knew Blackfire was cruel but they didn't think she would doom her people. They just figured she would be a power hungry, entitled brat who would throw all kinds of tantrums over the smallest things. But a tyrant? That seemed a bit much to them. Though they hadn't had very many encounters with her, so what were they supposed to think? They all slowly began to abandon those thoughts as the statue of their close friend reminded them of what they were missing and the reason they were there...

After a moment of silence Galfor turned to face the titans. he extended a hand that pointed down a hallway to his right, "this way," he said with the upmost respect, "we have much to discuss."

\--

The sun shined bright over Tamaran. The barren planet absorbed the heat of the sun like the black asphalt of a street on a summer day. The planet was harsh and food was scarce forcing the lifeforms that inhabit the planet to adapt to more unusual diet in order to survive.

Small cities looked like villages at the foot of the towering castle where the grand ruler lived. Even though they didn't have the same luxuries as the ruler they were happy and loved their leader with all their hearts. The chatter of a market filled the air around the small cities as Tamaran continued to flourish despite the odds.

In the distance, among massive boulders with jagged edges, there were two small Tamaranian girls. They float over the rocks as if looking for something. One of the small girls had jet black hair and dark purple eyes. Her clothes were simple yet almost uniform like with a tint of light purple that covered her body like a stylish suit of armor for children. She had a look of determination and a sense of purpose about her. She continued to scour over the rough and dangerous rocks of the wastelands like something important was hanging in the balance. She was so focused it seemed like she was stuck in an internal monologue when a small voice in her native language called out from behind her snapping her our of her intense focus...

_"Sister!"_ The other small girl yelled. She had beautiful red hair with light green eyes wearing the same light purple suit the other was wearing, _"over here! I think I found one!"_ She finished as she pointed into the jagged mess of rocks.

The black haired girl flew over to where her sister was floating with an outstretched finger. When she arrived next to the red haired girl, she looked closely at what lay at the end of the invisible line of her sister's finger.

A small group of jagged rocks that stood out from the others would seem just more of the wastelands that surround it. But only to someone who didn't know what they were looking for. However, to these girls... they could tell it could very well be something more.

_"I think it's a big one Komand'r,"_ the red haired girl whispered even though moments ago she was just yelling.

Komand'r raised her hands into fists and pointed them towards the small group of rocks. She girt her teeth and began concentrating all her anger in an attempt to harness it as a weapon. Her fists slowly began to glow purple.

_"Pay attention Kori,"_ she said through her clenched teeth. She closed her eyes and pictured something that caused her to grow more angry with each passing second, _"you just need to get mad!"_

Her eyes shot open to reveal a sinister glow of purple. She shout as loud as she could with all her anger behind her voice and a dark purple starbolt discharged from her fists landing on the pile of rocks with a loud explosion kicking up a massive cloud of dust.

Koriand'r dawned a face of awe at the power of her sister. The look of admiration was unmistakable and Komand'r could see it all over face as if reading a book. She couldn't help but smile back at her sister. Smile at the look she wanted so bad. The look only one person would give her.

Her attention was refocused on the pile of rocks as a terrifying screech of pain and anger came from a creature among the rocks where her starbolt had just landed...

"Hey!"

Blackfire was roused out of her day dream by the snapping of fingers no more than a few inches from her face. Ravenger was trying desperately to get her attention and was visibly annoyed to the point she stood up and walked across the cabin of the flight deck where Blackfire sat at the controls of the ship. Ravenger bent at the waist to get to eye level and raised her fingers in between her and Blackfire's face and began making the annoying sound of snapping to get her to wake up out of her internal mindset.

Now that she had her attention she was eager to get her point across...

"Listen sweetheart," she said sarcastically, "you better not screw me on this. Catching your sister was no easy task."

Blackfire scowled back at her as if she didn't accomplish anything to begin with, "if it weren't for _my _plan, you wouldn't have captured her at all," she said trying to insult her, "you should be thankful I'm still honoring our arrangement."

Ranveger stood up straight and raised her hands with a shrug as if blowing off the insult slung at her, "eh... I had her before the weirdo with the over-inflated ego went rouge and decided to save her for whatever reason."

"Rouge?" Blackfire asked with an eyebrow raised and an unentertained expression.

"Yeah," Ravenger replied folding her hands behind her head as if preparing to lay down and relax, "think of Robin, but the guy only ever goes after what he wants. All the same skills. All the same gadgets. But he is definitely _not _a hero."

Blackfire's unentertained expression vanished and her curiosity peaked. This person seemed to intrigue her. Someone exactly like Robin but has more of a bad side? That is someone she wouldn't mind meeting.

"Is he cute?" Blackfire asked with a sense of sarcasm.

"Cute?" Ravenger shot back as she turned around to sit in the chair across the cabin of the flight deck. She plopped down lazily and threw an arm over the back rest before looking back at Blackfire, "the guy is a nut case! One second he wants her for himself, the next, he's working with her. If you ask me... He's got a _thing_ for red heads."

Blackfire's face turned to disgust as her interest vanished once more as if that were already obvious. Only one thought came to her mind...

_Of course he does._


	26. More Than One Battle

**A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry that took so long. Life has been hectic this past month. School just let out this week so now i got plenty of time to write! Feels good to be back! I plan on writing a chapter every week if not more than once a week. I hope thats ok with you guys but the past month has giving me plenty of time to think about where this story can go! Stoked to see where it ends up! Hope you enjoy!**

Nightwing was entranced by the infinite darkness in front of him. With his forearms placed behind his head as cushion for comfort he found himself tensed up. He kept asking himself how he got here. What lead to this moment? Why was he chasing a ship that carried someone he care for as a prisoner?Memories flashed in front of him as if taking from in the dark abyss, each one leading to the next until he reached the present. With each memory passing he would grit his teeth and his fists would clench behind his head. They took control of his mind to the point he blocked out everything else around him.

"So who is she?" A robotic voice echoed across the small ship. But there was no response. He slightly turn his head towards his temporary companion to see if he was being ignored but from the expression on the face he observed... He didn't think that was the case.

Nightwing just didn't hear him. He was still stuck in a trance staring into the nothingness. So X tried to snap him out of it...

"C'mon kid," he said with an annoyed tone, "I know you can hear me."

Nightwing's face animated with life as if he was just woken from a deep sleep and he turned to face his rival to see if he had imagined that. When he saw the pilot's head tilted in his direction he knew he hadn't imagined anything...

"What?" Nightwing asked full of confusion. He just hadn't heard him. Or at least... it just didn't register to him.

"Who. Is. She?" X said with a passive aggressive tone.

"Who?" Nightwing said with an eyebrow raised trying to figure out who he was talking about.

"Who do ya think?" X shot back thinking it was obvious, "the chick who stole Starfire," he returned his sights to the dead space in from his ship, "who is she?"

Nightwing's face turned to sheer panic and he sat up straight, nervously putting his hands in his lap almost as if moving into a stance to defend himself. He took a defensive position not because he was in danger but because he was worried that his secret could get out...

Red-x picked up on that sense of panic just from the air around the two of them growing so tense and decided to probe further.

"I know you know her," he said with confidence, "you called her by name..."

Nightwing's heart began pound. A rare feeling for him. The anxiety of this conversation was starting to toll on him. He knew in situations like this its best not to say anything so he kept his mouth shut.

X waited patiently for an answer and he when he didn't get one he chuckled softly like he knew the answer already, "I see... So she's _that _kind of chick..." He chuckled again.

Nightwing knew this was bait and not to take it... So he continued to remain silent. But that's not what bothered him at this point. At this point whether it was a bluff or if X really knew, it terrified him.

"Does Star know?" X continued to tease as if he knew the entire story now.

Obviously Nightwing's silence was giving away a lot more than he thought. He looked down at his hands in his lap and thought really hard about what to say in response but everything he thought of always seemed to lead to the same ending... And it wasn't good.

"Bad news doesn't get better with time, kid," X finally said with all the confidence in the world, "eventually she's going to find out... So would you want her to hear it from you..." he paused and turned his head towards Nightwing who looked back at him as their eyes deadlocked on one another, "or from me?"

The deadlocked eye contact could have sparked flames from the intensity of their collision and for a long moment they sat in silence waiting for the other to make the next move.

\--

Starfire sit on the cold floor of her cell. The force field around her showed no flaws or any kind of weakness. If there's one thing her enemy gizmo was good at... It was building incredibly advanced tech. Escape really was impossible.

She sat with her knees up together as she wrapped her arms around the front of her shins with her head down in the nook between her knees. She wanted to cry but she refused to let her sister have that kind of victory over her. But as she thought about what she had lost up to this point the idea of holding back tears grew harder and harder. She missed her friends. She missed her home. She missed Richard. She wished so much for him to be there. To hold her. To comfort her. His warm touch with the rough skin of his hands covered in calluses from excessive training for years. A feeling most girls would scoff at, but she loved it. To her a man with that kind of drive was a delicacy.

The memory of being taken was becoming clearer with each passing minute. That night played over and over in her mind. Hearing all her friends battling for her safety. The terrifying tone in Richard's voice as he spoke to Kitten. The woman standing on the pier who turned out to be the same woman who took her hostage before at the restaurant...

_Who is she?_

Starfire thought to herself. As she continued to fight back her emotions. And like a faint dream you try to remember after you wake up it rang out in her mind...

_"Roooooossssse!"_

_That was Richard's voice. _She thought to herself as she opened her eyes staring blankly into her lap, her mind began to race with endless questions... but only one mattered to her... _does he know this girl?_

\--

The Titans walked down a wide and dimly lit hallway behind Galfor towards the war room. As they approached the doors they could hear murmuring, muffled conversations and whispers behind the massive door that stood twice as tall as Galfor. With his mighty strength he used one hand to push both doors open and silence fell over the room as all eyes turned to meet them.

A long and oval shaped table sat in the center of the room with small groups of well dressed Tamarans standing casually around it. Large and heavy chairs surrounded the massive table yet none of them were occupied as if everyone present were waiting on someone before sitting down.

Each Taraman had some kind of armor on. Not heavily fortified but well kept and stylish as if a decorated solider were wearing a uniform proudly. As they all began to realize that their Grand Ruler had entered one Tamaran called the room to attention as if their military general entered the room. Everyone in the room stood up straight and slammed their right fist across their chest before taking a slight bow towards their ruler.

Galfor looked around the room from each Tamaran to the next until he confirmed that everyone was present and accounted for.

"Be seated," Galfor ordered. Every Tamaran then stood up straight and sat down in their respective chairs around the long and impressive table.

Galfor took his seat at the head of the table where the Titans were granted 4 seats at his right hand side just adjacent to him.

"My brothers and sisters, the day we feared had finally arrived," Galfor said with caution, "the princess Starfire has been captured yet again. We can only assume who is behind this..."

The Titans all looked at each other confused as if they were the only ones not aware of what seemed to be the most obvious thing.

"We all know what ended the great war not so long ago," Galfor continued, "at the time we saw no end to the bloodshed and saw no other way to save our people." He closed his eyes and bowed his head in shame as the room was giving him their undivided attention, "fools we were!" He shouted angrily before looking back up at the room, "we thought that no war would come to us as long as we kept to ourselves! We were peaceful. With no army. And it left us defenseless to an attack like the one we faced!" He stood up agressively trying to emphasize his next statement, "but not anymore! We have been training for this very moment for years now! For our chance to take the fight to them and send a message to the galaxy, that we will not be pushed around and made a mockery of!"

The Titans eyes went wide. They were beginning to realize what was happening. An ongoing war of some kind. From what it sounded like... it was a very one sided war. One that gave the Tamaranians the short end of the stick.

"The Princess did everything she could to buy us time, but now we have to act quickly to save her! To save our savior!" Galfor sounded like a picture perfect general. Someone who was born to lead a nation, "we may not have started this war, BUT WE WILL END IT!" He threw a fist in the air and as if on command every Tamaran in the room shot to their feet throwing a fist in the air with a deafening war cry.

"Wait, what?!" Cyborg shout in an alarmed tone.

He looked down at Beastboy who had he jaw dropped at what he heard. Terra's eyes were wide in panic as They all looked to Raven for clarification.

The Titans did not share the same enthusiasm as the of the rest of the room. As much as they wanted to get their friend and leader back, they didn't want to be part of a war. But if thats what it took to get her back then they wouldn't hesitate to fight.

As they continued to look at each other with confused expressions Raven decided to ask the one question they all had on their minds...

She removed her hood and looked up at Galfor who had turned his gaze to her after seeing her remove her hood, "w-who took Starfire?" She stuttered as she asked as calmly as she could. She then swallowed the knot in her tongue and worked up her courage as her legs and hands began to shake... and with trembling lips she asked the big question, "w-who... Who are we going to war with?"


End file.
